The Paranorms
by Stravick Ovmahn
Summary: Its the same story you read with the original Worm, only slightly different. With just six characters strategically placed in the world at particular moments the entire progression of Worm is thrown off as this group of paranormal parahumans throw all logic to the wind and start messing everything up.
1. Hey, that's me!

You know? Given my particular situation, I'm reminded of my time in middle school when I and all the other children talked about what superpowers we would have. Only we never really did consider how we would get those powers. I mean, trigger events aren't even that well know among normal humans in the Protectorate. And even if we did speculate what our trigger events would be, we would cheat. Make something up that wouldn't really both us, but sounds just bad enough it would count towards that. And I, like so many others, would have never thought of what was happening right now as being my trigger.

Of course, I honestly can't think of a better time than being stuck inside a carport with a piece of rebar stuck through my shoulder as Armsmaster had a dick measuring contest with the Leviathan to learn I have the ability to make reality my own personal bitch.

The trigger event was an odd thing to feel. I mean, at first I was trying not to think about my the intense pain blossoming from my shoulder in an attempt not to scream. Then suddenly that pain was reduced to a dull burning sensation and I was suddenly aware of everything within a certain distance around me. Like a massive bubble surrounded me I was intuitively aware of almost everything in my surrounds, including the car two ceilings above me getting ready to fall down through the hole that had been created.

I wasn't entirely sure it would break through the ceiling between me and it, as this was a carport and as far as I could tell they had pretty thick floors. Only this building was barely standing as it was, so maybe hanging out underneath what will soon be the landing zone of an SUV wasn't such a great idea.

"ARGHAAaaaaAAA!" I inelegantly shouted as I pulled my shoulder off the metal construction pole. "MMMHhhhmm, that's brisk!" It burned like a motherfucker, but at the same time I kind of enjoyed it. It wasn't so intense enough that I wished it was gone, just enough to burn. It certainly wasn't hurting as much as it should be, it was an interesting feeling.

Where was I? Oh yeah, Armsmaster playing with Leviathan not that far away, to far for my sphere of I-know-everything power. Speaking of that, I suddenly felt someone enter my area on the outside wall of the carport. I couldn't quite feel them they way I felt everything else around me. It was like the walls and objects were in high definition but whoever this person was they felt like a silhouette. But more than that, I realized I had a measure of feeling over everything in the area, like a thousand hands touching each and every surface. It was only when these metaphorical hands didn't touch the yet to be named person did I even notice this was a thing.

Curiously, I tried experimenting with this as I made my way to the crouching person, pressing my hand against the gaping hole in my shoulder. It would kind of suck if I bled out after just becoming a superhero.

As it turns out, this feeling I had about my general surroundings only let me exert a sort of pressure on them. I'm not exactly sure what that did, but I did notice something started looking a little… _smoother_ around the edges. I decided to put that off for a moment. More not dying now and less experimenting with unknown power.

My first priority was getting to the person on the ground nearby. With any luck it would be a cape of some sort that could make sure I don't die before I get to some doctors. Then after that I might decided to face the fact my entire life is over as the Leviathan just got done destroying everything I know and love. Actually, made I should just ignore that part.

A swung over the railing and landed next to… Skitter. Okay, wow. I mean, with all the heroes running about the bay to fight the Endbringer, what are the chances I would land right next to Brockton Bay's up and coming villain? She's no Lung or Kaiser, but she is definitely up there. One of the scarier ones when you consider she runs Regent and Hellhound.

"Excuse me," I gasped as I landed in the water sodden grass beside her. She was already looking at me with her creepy bug mask before I managed to roll my head and look at her.

"You're injured," she said bluntly.

"Oh, when then that happen? Must have tripped on something." I said it with as real as smile as I could manage, although her mask made it impossible for me to see her reaction.

"Do you think you can hold on for a little bit?" I paused before responding. I looked down and took my hands away from the wound.

"It looks like I'm clotting well enough. I _probably_ won't die in the next twenty minutes, so long as I avoid any more pointy objects." I had lost a ton of blood, but I didn't any of the effect I thought it would have. Was that part of my power? It was almost annoying that I couldn't begin test at this moment. But that would have to wait until I got a quick patch job, a shower, and a new bra because _clearly_ this one was no good. Although, blood red wasn't such a bad colour on me either.

"Good, then we need to get to Armsmaster."

"Get to Armsmaster?" Oh, it appeared Armsmaster, or more appropriately _Arm_ master, had fallen to the ground, his Halberd and arm hitting the water not to far from him. I was all for helping what might be my future employer if things go right, but there was the issue of the hulking lizard/human monster hovering over him.

But one does not simply refuse when the super villain you are following with the hopes of running into some superhuman friends that do some superhuman healing begins to walk forward and expects you to follow.

I made it about three steps before we both froze when the Leviathan stopped moving and turned to look our way. I was briefly aware of someone entering my sphere of influence. They were only there for barely a second before they were gone again, moving in the direction of the Leviathan. There was a massive wave of water which moved behind the person as they moved.

I turned and looked at the Leviathan with Skitter standing still beside me. A vaguely human shape had been running fast across the ground. The Leviathan raised a claw to do something but never got the chance as the person leaped through the air much higher than I would have thought possible, until I remembered parahumans exist and slapped myself for being an idiot. And great, now there is a bloody handprint on my face.

There was a massive explosion and caused me to redirect my attention to the scene unfolding in front of me. Whoever it was that was doing the running just punched the Leviathan in the face, _hard._ The was even a white shock wave of air going around the Leviathan's face before it fell backwards. The human shape plummeted to the ground a second later, falling out of sight.

The Leviathan got back on its feet and instant later. Its entire face had caved inward from where the parahuman had punched it a moment ago. The Leviathan hesitated toward us for a moment, before turning and running. Apparently the crater making punch to the face was the last straw. Hopefully the Endbringer won't return to this side of the coast again, we could only hope.

Oh, falling now. I found myself fell face first against the flooded street, getting a mouthful of water in the process. I spat out the mouthful of water and struggled to my feet as I tried to fight out a wave of dizziness that had struck me out of nowhere. I found my footing and started looking around for Skitter.

She had apparently lost a hand somewhere along the way and was bleeding pretty badly. I sauntered up to her as easily as I could manage with the light headedness going on now. She was speaking into those arm bands they all wore.

"-master down! CC-7! The Leviathan heading towards the ocean…" Skitter paused and began applying pressure on Armsmaster's stump. I slumped on the ground next to her and him, suddenly to tried to say or do anything useful. I had to hand it to Skitter, she was taking the broken arm and missing hand rather well. I had a hole in my shoulder, but that hadn't been really painful since I triggered. I wanted nothing more than to rest and feel the pain in my shoulder play out. But I couldn't stop, stopping meant facing hard facts. I had enough self-awareness to know that much, and I knew what would happen if I didn't come to terms with those facts. But all the same, it would be better now if I didn't think about it. I needed something else to distract me. I need something to do, some way to help.

Suddenly it clicked that maybe I could do something. My power dulled the pain and appeared to give me a bit more blood to loose or something along those lines. Maybe it gave everyone in my sphere of effect something similar? Or more likely given how every power seems to act it would probably drain some life force or something out of those two, and that probably wouldn't look good for me once the heroes came for us.

I closed my eyes and focused on exerting that pressure on myself. Instantly I felt the pain dull in my shoulder and the light headedness fade. I glanced down and saw the wound itself hadn't changed so much. Wait, no, that wasn't true. It had changed, just in a weird way. It looked smoother somehow, and the blood looked a little lighter in colour.

I shook my head and focused back on Skitter and Armsmaster. I used my new found strength to stand up and was about to offer to take over when a human shaped shadow fell over me. I looked up to see a cape in a Russian themed costume. He wore a thick grey trench coat with a large fur lining and a match grey fur cap with a red star in the centre. His mask was white with red stripes and yellow eyepieces that covered everything but his mouth, which was set in a steady frown.

"You are attempting to help, yaes?" The question was directed at Skitter, not me even though I was the only standing. I was more blown away by the fact the he even spoke in a heavy Russian accent. What was a Russian cape doing here? Was he even Russian or was he just pretending?

Skitter nodded and tried to apply more pressure, but she was barely standing. The Russian cape tilted his head and asked,

"But he is hero, no? And you are villain?" Skitter nodded her head and tried not to sway, failing.

"There is a treaty."

"But treaty says do not attack enemies does it not? You could leave hero here and no one would know." Skitter was silent for a moment.

"I would know." The Russian cape nodded and looked up.

"Might I help then?" Skitter nodded and moved away. The Russian cape leaned down a plucked Armsmaster up like it was nothing and threw him on his shoulder. He offered a hand to Skitter, who took it and was lifted up and put on his shoulder just as easily as if she were made of paper.

"Her too," Skitter said, pointing at me.

"Aw, you remembered." I said with a grin on my face. With Skitter on his shoulder he reached out and grabbed me by my good arm and pulled me close, wedging my bad shoulder between myself and his chest.

"Vhich direction?" The Russian cape asked. Skitter checked her armband and then point in the general direction of what I hoped was a hospital of some sort. And suddenly we were in the air.

It was at this moment I realized these was the same guy that made the Leviathan's face look like the Gulf of Mexico as he leaped from the ground to the top of the highest building in the area before I had a chance to blink. I looked up to see Skitter's reaction, but she appeared to be unconscious. Oh well, more fun for me.

Or maybe I should sleep. As the edges of my vision grew darker I felt oddly tired. If it wasn't for the constant input by everything in my sphere of influence I might have already been asleep. The wind in my face every time The Russian leaped was quite soothing. All I need was to close my eyes and...


	2. Hey, that's not me

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* * *

Taylor slow regain a sort of consciousness, but it was immediately clear that she wasn't in any sort of natural environment. Blackness stretched infinitely in all directions, but she got the sense she could see just fine. She looked down at her body, she was still wearing her costume except for the mask. She briefly panicked when she realized that, thinking that someone had unmasked her and revealed her identity. But no, she had her arm and hand. Meaning this was something else.

A man with a black cane tipped in silver on both ends came strolling into her vision. He wore an all black suit, no tie or anything fancy. Just enough to get by in the workplace, but still sloppy enough to make a display out of it. He had short greying hair and rough hair around his chin. He spun his cane and watched Taylor for a long moment. When she opened his mouth to speak he cut her off.

"In five minutes you're going to wake up in a hospital bed and probably be in pain." The man said. "You're going to see me there, most of the time, but don't try and talk to me; you'll only look like an idiot."

"What's going on?" She finally managed to ask. The man sighed.

"Look, I have to explain this enough times as it is and I don't have the time to sit around and explain every little detail before you wake up. So I'm going to says this once and then you focus on not getting us killed for at least a week." He took a breath and rested both hands on his cane.

"My name is Tenant and I am dead. Many trigger events put people on the edge of death, however, mine required me to actually die. At the exact same instance that I died, I triggered, which works out for me because my power is moving into other people's minds." Tenant paused and checked to see if she was getting this. He spoke with a practiced ease. "I have been in the minds of hundreds of people and over that time I have seen a lot of things. Unfortunately for my last host, the Leviathan killed him during the battle. And you just so happened to be nearby when I got evicted.

"So now you are my host presumably until you die. While I'm am here I have a limited ability to manipulate how your brain functions if you want it. Are there any questions?" Taylor felt like letting her jaw drop but resisted as the last part caught her off guard more than anything else.

"Manipulate my mind how?" Tenant thought it over for a few moments.

"That depends entirely on you. The better we get along the more leverage I am going to have. A measure of trust on your end if you will. I have seen a lot of people both hate and enjoy my company over the years, and I have seen people both hate me and like me. Not so much the latter, because you know, the whole mind control thing. But in general terms I'm going to be able to increase your power's range to some degree, increase your ability to multitask, take extremely limited control of your 'swarm' as you call it, and I may be able to increase your brain function overall. I'm studying your mind now and just from what I see you're not a complete moron so we should get along more or less." Taylor frowned at him and opened her mouth to say something, only to get cut off again.

"You're about to wake up. Again, don't try to speak to me, just think at me if you have to. I can try and dull some pain, but otherwise, you're going to be fine. They'll use their cape magic on you and you'll be ready to risk your life like every other idiot out there." Tenant was rolling his eyes as Taylor's vision began to fade and she slipped back into a sleep like state.

A dull pain ached around her arm and hand were they had been injured. The rest of her body felt equally as stiff and sore as she tried to move. She was suddenly aware that someone was touching her. She turned her head slightly to see Panacea focusing as her hand and arm twisted back into shape, The pain swiftly faded as they came back together. Her hand and arm moved back into place as they were supposed to and began to function again.

"Um," Skitter grunted, stirring slightly in the bed. Panacea glanced up at her and moved her hands away.

"So, you're awake." Panacea sighed. "You had a broken arm and lost your hand along with a small rib fracture. There was a bit of brain damage, but that was beyond the scope of my abilities.

"Those things you said at that bank? About making me obese or making everything I ate taste like bile, you didn't do any of that did you?" Panacea smirked with a smug reassurance.

"I could have. I guess you will have to trust that I'm a decent person and wouldn't do that. Or I might have set things on a time delay, I guess time will tell." Skitter paused for a moment, thinking.

"Are you a decent person?" Panacea frowned.

"Of course I am." Skitter nodded and looked down at her hands, one of them still handcuffed to the bed.

"I still like to think I am. Not everything I have done has worked out like I meant it to, but there was always some good reason for it. To the point, I don't think of myself as a bad person." Panacea's eyes narrowed.

"Then either you're ignorant, deluded, or have a very twisted perspective."

"Or maybe," A new voice joined the conversation. Skitter looked up to see The Russian standing on the inside of the curtain we the two of them, Tenant lurking in the corner behind him. "Your own feelings towards Skeetar," His Russian accent gave the name an odd sound, "has deluded how you think of someone who wants to be good person." Panacea tensed.

"You don't know her, you haven't seen what her friends did to-"

"I thought ve were talking about Skeetar? And I saw vhat she did buring Leviathan attack. She helped tinker hero without needing to. Sound like good person to me." Panacea rose from her seat angrily and stiffly walked out of the curtain area, the PRT officer with her following close behind. Skitter sighed audibly and looked back down.

"Thank you for that," she said.

"No problem," The Russian answer, taking a seat next to her bed. "The name is Brute. Or Brute the Brute if you'd like." Skitter smiled behind the mask. He had to be every bit of Brute 8 or maybe even Brute 9 to do what he did against the Leviathan. The humour of the name choice wasn't lost on her.

Skitter absently pulled on her restraints while she thought. She looked up and met Tenant's eyes for a moment.

"The guy obviously wants something." Tenant said plainly. "Only reason he would be here." Skitter frowned and Tenant rolled his eyes. "Make conversation you idiot, find out what he is here for. The worst that-" He was cut off by Brute rising from his chair and reaching over the bed. He pinched the handcuff in between two fingers and the metal snapped under the pressure.

"Thank you," Skitter said.

"Mm," Brute grunted.

"Do you know why I was chained to the bed? Are they planning on arresting me?"

"Doubtful. They want to make sure no villain goes hunting for enemies' secret identity. But I also heard that a particular laser hero and tinker hero want to talk to you."

"Legend and Armsmaster?"

"Yaes." Skitter nodded and fell silent for a few more awkward minutes before asking,

"So, are you Russian?" Brute frowned.

"Actually, the accent came with the power, not sure why. I come from Boston, originally. But have been roaming for while now." At that moment the curtain opened again and Armsmaster, Miss Militia, and Legend stepped into the room. They each froze when they saw Brute waiting patiently by Skitter's beside.

"What are you doing here?" Armsmaster asked dangerously. His arm was still missing, but it apparently it didn't bother him. He could probably build a new one, Skitter guessed. Brute shrugged.

"I have decided to follow Skeetar for time being." Skitter froze.

'What does that mean? Follow me?'

"This is either really good news or really bad news," Tenant said, observing the scene casually. He glanced back at Skitter and said, "And no, I don't know what it means either."

"We have you on record as being a mercenary," Legend said. "Does this mean Skitter has hired you or something of the sort?" Brute shook his head.

"No, I am not mercenary. I am a tool to be used, and I pick those who are worthy to use me and lend myself to them. My last wielder did not want to fight Leviathan, and he lost my respect. So I killed him and came to fight. During which, Skeeter has impressed me by helping tinker hero there and little girl she met along the way. So Skeeter is my wielder for moment."

"Hey, this little girl has a name," the girl said, walking from around the corner. The hole in her shoulder was all bandaged up and she wore that trademark grin Skitter was getting used to seeing her with. "Riza, at your service."

Riza had stylish blond hair, if you could ignore all the drying blood in it. She wore a low crop black shirt that had 'Badass' written on the front along with a pair of incredibly tight short shorts.

"Skitter," Tenant said with mild amusement, "I can tell you're not into that sort of thing, so can I ask why you're staring at her chest?" Skitter blinked and turned away, suddenly glad she was wearing the mask as she felt the heat rising to her face.

'It's not my fault' she thought at Tenant. 'Those things should be illegal.' Tenant paused and thought about that for a moment.

"Alright, can you stop everyone else so we can discuss that specifically?"

"You need to get out of here." Armsmaster was telling Riza in a rather threatening tone. Riza quirk an eyebrow at him.

"I don't need to do anything. I can be in here with Skitter if I like, right tough guy?" Brute grunted his agreement. Miss Militia looked between them all and stepped forward, place an arm across Armsmaster to prevent him from doing more.

"This isn't going anywhere, we need to talk about-"

"Hey guys, whatsup?" Tattletale asked easily, striding in with Grue and Bitch behind her. Miss Militia sighed and said,

"We were just about to discuss certain questionable actions Skitter took during the fight with the Leviathan, however Brute has posed a new problem." Everyone's eye turned to Brute, who remained emotionless. Tenant, invisible to everyone else, came and sat on the end of Skitter's bed, he would have been sitting on her legs if he weighed anything.

"Interesting…" He said thoughtfully.

'What?' Tenant tilted his head.

"Brute is important or dangerous enough to derail possible allegations of you breaking the truce while in the fight." Tenant turned and looked at Skitter. "And you apparently control him now, a bit more useful than bug powers." Tenant paused. "Of course if that is the case they are going to try and take him from you, someway somehow. Oh look, there it is now." Skitter turned her focus back on the conversation.

"We are _heros_." Legend had said. "If you are looking for people doing good, then you should be allying yourself with us." Brute crossed his arms.

"Skeeter has impressed me. You? Not so much. It isn't a matter of 'be good' it is a matter of 'do good'. And while you Protectorate," Brute sounded out the word slowly so his accent didn't mangle it, "do good, you are bad at it. My wielder must be smart, and use me well. You are government, and government never do anything efficiently." Brute nodded toward Tattletale and Grue. "And I have it on good authority that Skeeter does things well. Does them smart." Slowly, Skitter got up out of bed, she couldn't take lying down any longer, not while people argued around her.

"But we can't let you leave," Armsmaster stated sourly.

"Then you'll have to break the truce," Tattletale told him. "We're leaving with the two of them, unless you want everything to come falling in on your head." Armsmaster's eye narrowed at her, but it was Legend who spoke.

"Brute is a threat that everyone understands, just as easily as he is a turning point in Endbringer fights, he extremely detrimental in all other regards. No one, not even villains who would want this to blow up in our faces, would fault us for wanting to stop him. But I am giving him and you a chance to give up peacefully."

" _We_ would fault you," Tattletale said seriously. "If Brute is swearing his allegiance to Skitter than he is officially an Undersider. And if you try to hurt our team during a truce…"

"Again," Miss Militia cut in. "Everyone understands the threat of Brute, no one but you will claim we broke the truce.

"Ah, but we can raise our voices pretty high, like this;" Tattletale pressed the armband and a broadcast opened up on everyone's armband saying,

" _Manpower deceased, CD-6. Aegis deceased, CD-6. Fenja down, CC-6. Fenja deceased, CC-6. Kid Win down, CC-6. Skitter deceased, CC-6. Kaiser deceased, CC-6_."

"Oh, he got tense." Tenant pointed out, looking at Armsmaster.

"You see," Tattletale said, "I happened to notice Skitter _isn't_ dead. So it would seem that someone intentionally broke her armband to make her seemed dead. Someone with an EMP, someone who thought they could take on the Leviathan in a one on one fight."

"Hey," Riza said, "That sounds like Armsmaster."

"Huh, imagine that," Tattletale said with a smile. She leaned back and stretched before continuing. "So what I'm thinking is that a certain Tinker we all know used his predictive program to put a bunch of villains in the way of the Leviathan while Clockblocker had it tagged so that he could have his glorious battle and kill the Leviathan once and for all. Only it didn't work and I imagine that it would be rather bad if other people learned about this."

Armsmaster suddenly launched himself at Tattletale, only to be hit with a beam of light from Legend. Armsmaster went careening to the ground. When he stopped he looked up and managed to say,

"You bitch." Tattletale shrugged.

"I've been called worse. And honestly? Your plan was pretty stupid. The way Endbringer physiology work you could have-"

"Shut up, you don't know everything," Armsmaster spat, his eye settling on Skitter.

"Oh dear," Tenant said, understanding what was about to happen the exact same time Skitter did.

"Grue, shut him up." Skitter said quickly. Grue raised a hand, but didn't throw his darkness out.

"She's not who you think she is," Armsmaster said, pointing a finger at Skitter. "She's a wanna be hero, has been from the start. Since the night Lung was first brought into custody. I met her that night. She said she was a hero, that you Undersiders mistook her for a villain. I didn't think twice about it until she arranged a meeting with me, the night before the bank robbery. Told me she had joined your group as an undercover agent, getting the dirt on you so she could hand that group over to us. Talked to me again the night you raided the fundraiser, out there on the balcony. Told me if I let her go, she'd get the details on your boss to me. Guess she hasn't gotten around to figuring that little detail out, yet." Tenant raised an eyebrow at Skitter.

"Your throat is a little dry there. I can tell your brain to activate the salivary glands if you want." Skitter didn't answer, too paralyzed from watching the scene unfold.

"Is this true?" Grue asked Tattletale. She sighed and said,

"Yeah." Skitter looked between them all for a moment. Bitch was staring at her with wide eyes, her teeth bared. Skitter took one step backward, then another, and then she was running. No one moved to stop her, but Brute disappeared as he followed her out.

There was a tense moment of silence as everyone stood there, Armsmaster on the ground with one of Miss Militia's guns trained on him. After a moment Riza looked a Tattletale and said,

"So I heard there was an opening on your team…"


	3. First Steps

I had been considering becoming a superhero, a good guy, someone in The Wards maybe. And I would probably really good at it too. But I was just out of my trigger event and wasn't thinking straight. I mean, I was probably a lot more coherent about things than other capes, but still, I was pretty out of it all things considered. But it didn't take long after getting my shoulder patched up for me to remember that being a supervillain would be much more _fun._ And after seeing Skitter run away from her problems I saw my opportunity and took it.

Only I didn't think that would mean following Tattletale around until she understood my power. It is so _boring_ and everything I do she has to pick apart. I want to sneak a doughnut, she knows. I want to wear an underwire bra, she is there to remind me I don't need it, like I don't know that. I want to go shopping, she knows what I want and gets it for me because apparently I'm not worth the entry payment into The Undersiders until she is done vetting me.

I didn't need this, I flip a middle finger to physics and I had to hang around Lisa because she didn't like my explanation. Everyone else liked it, particularly Regent. I gave the world around me anime physics.

I honestly don't know why Tattle didn't accept that answer, we pretty much proved it too. I extended my influence over the area and after in a few minutes, everything looked a little more cartoonish. I could jump incredibly high and move really fast among a dozen other things. Although the real test was when Regent asked me to jump up and down and they all got to my breasts move like they were made of jello.

If _that_ wasn't proof enough I don't know what was.

But regardless I was stuck following her around until I could sell her on the idea that I made the world around me the greatest anime ever. I guess I can't complain much as Coil was already working on putting a costume together for me, so anime is the theme whether Tattle likes it or not. But that doesn't mean much when she tells me to stay behind while she does the interesting thing. Like talking to the previous member of the team while I grabbed a coffee with Brute.

So Brute and I got to chill out inside a coffee shop near the memorial. It was an odd thing, like they just decided 'fuck it, we'll put a big brick of black marble down on the untouched side of town and carve these losers name in. They will keep them happy right?'. But guess there was sentiment there that I just wasn't getting.

I shrugged and slid into the booth, Brute sitting across from me. "So, Brute," I spoke quietly so no one heard his villain name. "Why don't you have a civilian name?" Brute looked at me for a moment. It was my first time seeing him out of costume, as he had been following Taylor around for a while. He had black hair that he was beginning to grow long. His face was thin, but with a strong jaw line.

"Because civilian identity died many years ago. Have not needed since," Brute half grunted half said. I shrugged.

I understood the sentiment. My family, my job, and pretty much everything else I cared about all died when the wanna-be Godzilla monster stepped on my family's bakery. I would be more torn up about it, but I've been making sure my focus was shifted elsewhere. Like running from said Godzilla monster, getting the rebar out of my shoulder, getting pumped up about getting superpowers, joining a supervillain team. Anything but dwelling on the fact that I probably won't need my civilian identity anymore either. I would have to face that reality eventually, but maybe if I put it off long enough it won't have any real effect on me.

"But you really should pick a name. Maybe something that also sounds Russian." Brute nodded.

"Mhm, I vill think on it."

"So, been hanging out with Taylor huh? Anything going on in that department?" Brute looked at me flatly.

"No." I rolled my eyes.

"My god, you suck at small talk!" Brute raised an eyebrow at me.

"Hm?"

"You spent the last few days hanging out with someone who had clearly been planning on betraying her team. Surely there have to be some stories in there." Brute shrugged.

"Perhaps. She is like others before her. Unsure of how to handle me. But she vill learn, in time." And yet another statement that brought our conversation to a grinding halt. Come you big brute, I'm trying not to go mad with boredom before Lisa gets back.

"So, what is your power, specifically?" Brute shrugged.

"I hit hard, am hard to hit, and heal what does hit."

"There has to be more to it than that. These are superpowers, they don't settle for something simple. It is always something a little off kilter, something different." Brute shrugged again.

"I steal the strength, healing, and durability factors of those I defeat. Works better if I kill them."

"Even from normal people?" Brute nodded.

"Smart man explained it like this to me once; Normal person has healing factor of one. I make them unable to fight, I steal .3 of factor. If I kill them I steal .5 of factor. So I travel and beat stronger opponents. Then one day, I will kill Behemoth."

"Is that why you killed your last guy? He didn't want to fight the Leviathan so you took it as a personal insult?" Brute shook his head.

"No, if he had ordered me to search and rescue I would have been unhappy, but fine. He did not want to help at all, something even racist prick leading racist army did for everyone. Because that is what you do for Endbringer attack. My last wielder is dead because he lost my respect."

"Huh, neat." I quickly searched for a new topic to talk about, as this one came rapidly to an end. I could see Taylor and Lisa leaning against a railing some distance away from the coffee house, it didn't look like they were going to be done soon.

"So, that is all you do? Go around from worthy person to worthy person, sticking around until they die. Nothing else?" Brute shrugged dismissively. Oh, no. I'm not letting him off that easy. "Come on tough guy, there's got to be something. Maybe an old boss you want to egg the car of. A certain hero that is constantly a thorn in your side. You didn't seem like you like the Protectorate that much."

"Hmm, well there might be one thing." Brute paused and thought about it. "There is a man I'm looking for. Older, unshaven, greying hair."

"Okay… Any particular reason for wanting to find him?"

"He caused my trigger event."

His trigger event, that was a conversation gold mine. But how to approach it?

"Your trigger? Can I ask…" Brute frowned, but he was always frowning so it was hard to get a read on him.

"Government has nasty business trying to understand trigger events. Sometimes they take people and try to force them to trigger, sometimes the person volunteers, I didn't." I elected to stay silent on that, see if he would continue.

"The man's job was to torture me and others night after night, see if we could trigger within the week. I and very few others did." Brute took a deep breath and sighed. "Only the man died during a riot staged by me and my best friend."

"Kind of hard to find a dead man isn't it?"

"No, when he died his mind moved into my best friend's mind. It drove my friend mad and he eventually killed himself, causing the man to move to someone else. I chased him down for a time, but he disappeared before long." Brute looked out the window and saw Lisa and Taylor making their way back towards us.

"I don't know what I would do if I found him. I can't kill him, but I would feel better knowing he was where I could see him." Taylor and Lisa entered the coffee shop and found spots next to us.

"We have a job," Lisa said cheerfully. I grinned knowing what comes next.

"So I finally get to be a supervillain? Name and all?" Lisa sighed.

"Yeah, name and all." Taylor look between me and her for a moment before asking,

"What name?" I flashed my grin at her.

"Tsundere."

My costume wasn't that special in general terms, it was how it stood out that made it interesting. It was a kimono styled slightly different so it didn't trip me up when trying to move. The fabric was a dark purple that looked black in the night. The red sash the wrapped around my waist and stomach was packed with shuriken, my power apparently giving them the ability to cut through most things.

I have found dozens of uses for my power, making me almost more versatile than Skitter. The first thing I found as that my power takes hours to wear off, so my shuriken keep their unnatural sharpness even after leaving my area of effect.

Secondly, after spending hour agonizing on a mask that would look even remotely cool enough, I found that with the proper application of my power I could change my appearance so drastically that not only was unrecognizable, but I also looked like an anime character. I even got these absolutely massive eyes that make my field of vision five times larger than it would have been.

I can affect my friends too. A few test runs and it turns out that I can make pretty much anyone who stays in my bubble capable of flying through walls and able to move and jump with incredible agility. Only it took about ten minutes for the effect to become that powerful. I think the longer I pushed it the more dramatic things would become, but for the moment the most I have tested was ten minutes, and that started making all the object around look a bit more cartoony, my friends became more durable, and I began looking like an anime character.

Best. Power. Ever.

I think my favourite part was the two bokken and two katanas strapped to each side for symmetry. I didn't have a lot of sword training or practice with shurikens for that matter, but I moved like an anime character, so it only made sense I could fight like one too.

Which only made the fact that my first real enemy could turn herself into a ghost a little more than irritating. Like, I went through all this trouble to defy how the universe works and still look awesome and you become something I can't even hit? How dare you!

"Hey Tats?" I asked.

"I told you my name is Tattletale." She responded. I smiled.

"Okay, hey Tattle?" She sighed.

"Next time she enters my range, can I try something." My hand stroked the handle of the katana on my right side in anticipation. Tattletale glanced down a for a moment, probably just long enough to begin working her power on me. It was really getting annoying, her doing that. Not that I cared too much about my privacy, but what if I wanted to get the drop on someone? She would make it really hard to surprise her.

Suddenly it clicked in my head. That should be my goal, get things to the point where I could throw her a surprise party. It might be difficult, I wouldn't be able to use any misdirection at all. It would have to fit into some gap in a normal schedule, and everything I got for the party I would have to get through other means, but yes. This was doable, I was sure of it.

"Wait until Bitches dogs make their third pass then you can," she finally told me. I punched a fist into the air and as loudly as I dared said,

"Sweet!" I got shushed anyway. I stuck my tongue out at her and crep forward keeping out of sight as possible. I could feel Shadow Stalker and Skitter entered my range before I got too close. I waited until they were a good ten feet into my general range before and found a good hiding spot to stay in. From where I was I could see Grue beginning to coat the area in darkness. I could feel Imp trying to catch me from behind. I couldn't feel her in my range as I feel the others, instead, I felt her feet lightly hitting the ground as she stalked toward me. I resisted the urge to react to her in any way. It was one of the more fun things I did, making her believe I couldn't tell she was coming and then acting all surprised when she 'got me'. I've been saving up the big reveal for a while now, just waiting for the right moment to surprise her. It had to be with a wide enough audience, for the greatest effect.

She pressed two fingers in the soft part of my body between my ribs and hips and felt a literal shockwave move through me. A cartoonish ripple that moved from the spot where she pressed on my sides going from head to toe. And when it finished travelling I reacted by jumping up and then rolling across the ground because that _still_ hurt like a motherfucker.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," I moaned every second I rolled. Suddenly I felt Bitch's dogs making passes and immediately got to my feet as if nothing happened. Imp was probably grinning behind her mask, but I needed to focus. I took out my katana and let the shining blade flash in the moonlight. I could sense Shadow Stalker's shadow form even better. Normally people entering my range were only shadows compared to the detail in everything else. But ironically when she became an actual shadow I could see her almost perfect. Including her costume and the face beneath it.

I stepped out into the open and waited for the third pass of Bitches dogs. The moment it came I flicked my katana out in front of me in two distinct slashes.

Apparently, my power knew exactly what I wanted and gave me the perfect X-shaped projectiles. The tip of my katana drew two white arcs in front of me that immediately flew forward and intersected Shadow Stalker's form. She collapsed to the ground an instant later.

Feeling a bit smug with that display I twirled around the katana and slid it back into its sheath. The darkness dissipated and the others began to circle around Shadow Stalker. Brute stepped up behind me from where he was told to hide, a cigar dangling from his mouth. They were talking to Shadow Stalker now, but I had to do something first. I had seen her face, and I knew her.

I walked right past Skitter and kicked Shadow Stalker onto the ground swiftly before planting my foot on her shoulder. I could feel Skitter coming towards me to pull me off when I said,

"Sophia Hess." Skitter froze in her tracks. I would too if the roles were reversed. Sophia was absolutely hated by anyone who didn't love her back at school. And by extension I assume that girl who always hung out with her, Emma I think, was very likely also a bitch. I was among the crowd that hated her. She never really did anything directly to me, but I hated her more on principle.

"So how did someone as lowly as a school bully manage to get powers. Was mommy a little too tough on the precious little baby?" It was mean and condescending, but damn if this bitch didn't deserve it! Every day I would go to school and see her and her lackey and immediately fell a pinch of anger. She never approached me, probably because she knew I was liable to punch her in her overly pretty face. Somehow that made it worse, she only bullied people that either wouldn't react or would react weakly. I only saw a few people she got though after awhile she stopped chasing a lot of them and refined her attacks on someone. I never did find out who.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, Brute, and let myself get pulled away. It was Skitter that walked forward next, Regent's staff in her hand. She said something to Shadow Stalker before she tazed her. With that done I clapped my hands together and said,

"Alright, let's go break into the PRT headquarters." Everyone's head turned towards me. "What? Did I do something wrong?"


	4. Learner's Permit

Tenant had a yo-yo instead of a cane this time. Skitter watched him silently do tricks as the PRT containment van drove them closer and closer toward what would become a progressively more impossible situation. She knew it wasn't going to work, it was just a question of when and where. The closer they could get to their goal the better chance they stood of succeeding in their goal and getting out again.

"Fifty-seven percent chance Regent screws up in the first five minutes." Tenant said.

'What?' Skitter thought at him.

"You were thinking about the particular moment of our initial failure. So I rerouted portions of your brain to other tasks and used the freed processing power to start crunching some numbers and scenarios until I got that number for you." Tenant paused. "And judging by how I just lost some influence over you, I'm not winning any favours."

'Then maybe you should stop messing with my mind without asking me first.' Tenant rolled his eyes.

"Don't be stupid. I'm not going to do any serious harm, I'm not even sure I can. Call it a special case of the Manton effect, there are just somethings in the brain I can't stop or change. I'm stuck with you just as much as you're stuck with me." She didn't like him most of the time, he never really consulted her on anything he did. But he was becoming invaluable. He already extended her range about two more blocks and her already impressive multitasking abilities were almost unbelievable now. Not to mention he can keep track of Imp, block Regent's power, and had a perfect memory to refer back to whenever she needed it. And yet she knew that there was still massive untouched potential that her own feelings for him was preventing them from reaching. She thought back to when he had first introduced himself. He said that he would be limited by both how she liked him as a person and in what he did to her mind.

While she wasn't a fan of either, it was hard to deny the power he brought to the table when fights like the one soon to come were about to happen.

"Oh?" Tenant asked with a raised eyebrow. "I just felt a little more ground give way and a slight loss after a pointed that out, but a net gain no less." Tenant cocked his head to the side for a moment. "Well, that is interesting."

'Find something new again?' Skitter asked him. Tenant nodded.

"Always interesting, I forget most of my abilities when I move to a new host, and then later I remember and rediscover them all at the same time. Quite the interesting feeling. But you don't care about that." Tenant grabbed his yo-yo and sat straight up, only to lean forward so as to give Skitter his full attention.

"You are that bothered by me as a person, not as good as liking me, but much better than disliking. At best I annoy you. In terms of what my power does; you're a little on edge about it, it bothers you to some large degree, particularly every time I tell you about it, but you're mostly okay with it. That makes you a lot better than most people I have paired up with. Just some unhealthy protectiveness people have with their own minds, I guess.

"But my point is that, while far from perfect, we fit well enough together that I think I can pull off a few tricks I rarely get to use."

'And those are?'

"First and foremost, understand that I am a living conscious. I might not have a body anymore, but I still remember how to breathe and pump blood. Essentially, I can rewrite certain portions of your mind to do other things while _I_ take over all your breathing and other involuntary reflexes." Tenant frowned. "Oh well, I can see you're not too keen on that idea. Well, this next one is a bit better. If I stop everything else I'm doing, upping your power range, your multitasking capacity, hormonal balances to keep you calm, and a dozen other things I am managing in the back, if I stop all that I can slow your perception of time down to the point where a bullet will move at speeds relative to a baseball." Tenant paused and thought. Skitter felt a twinge of annoyance that he could apparently hear all of her thoughts but she couldn't hear his.

"Let's see... you once read a bullet could move at two thousand five hundred mph and about six months ago you read that a baseball in major league game averaged about a hundred mph. So, about twenty-five times slower, give our take." Immediately the possibilities quickly began to flood her mind, the speed at which they came was probably on Tenant as well. Quickly, Skitter addressed each and every idea and kept mostly likely to be useful ones nearby in her mind space. Tenant had helpped with that too. One restless night on an uncomfortable cot and together he had made her mind feel more three dimensional, as if it were a complex building that she could teleport through to find and file everything they needed.

He was just as comforting as he was an annoyance. Even in the lonely shelter where she knew no one he was there beside her. Either ready to talk to her or just staying within her sight. One nice thing was that he always seemed to know when he should and shouldn't talk. Whether that was an intuitive thing he had learned from her mind or just something he was good at, she didn't know.

"You're doing it again." Tenant reminded her.

'Doing what?'

"Wondering if I am making you a different person by my mere presence or otherwise. What is interesting about you is that you don't care so much that I mess with your brain, you care that I might mess with that integral part that is _you._ And that seems to be what holds you back, always asking yourself if you're different because of me."

'Only because you haven't answered the question before.' Tenant sighed.

"To be honest? I don't really know. They say 'you are you, plus your circumstances' and I am a pretty big circumstance. I don't think my existence changes who you are, but the fact that you see me all the time, talk with me constantly, and just generally recognize that I'm here, that might be changing you in small ways. Nothing noticeable, nothing talking with anyone of your friends for an extended period wouldn't do.

"But I'm not just doing that, I'm also unloading load of information into your mind. You take it much better than others have, no doubt because of your pre-existing power, but that is still a lot of information to be receiving."

'So? Do you think I'm still me?' Tenant looked her over for a moment and gave a weak laugh.

"Of course you're you. Nothing I do will stop you from being you, I just have to wonder if your an entirely different _you_ than you would have been if the Leviathan hadn't killed my last host. And another thing they say, 'absolute power corrupts absolutely'. Which makes you wonder; does every time you gain power corrupt you just a little bit more, or is it the changes in a person as a reaction to their circumstances being misconstrued as corruption in those that were given massive power as part of their circumstance?" Tenant shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I ramble. I think I may have started out a philosophy professor before I died. I hope I answered you question because it looks like we're out of time."

'No, you didn't really.' Skitter thought as the doors to the vans opened and they began pulling Regent, Grue, Bitch, Tattletale, Imp, herself, and Tsundere from the inside of the vehicle.

"Ah well, a shame. But now we get to see what it is like in a fight now, and that ought to be a little fun right?"

Thanks to Tenant Skitter was able to both not focus and focus on the events going around her. She was aware of the conversation that led up to Weld alerting everyone that this was a trap, even tensed at particular moments were Reagent narrow dodged a bullet in conversation. But she was able to keep her real focus on Tenant up until that moment. Like she had two minds, each equally capable yet with one taking more prominence. However when Weld did catch on the two minds slid into each other to form one hyper aware consciousness within her.

The moment the shoe dropped Tsundere was a leaping into motion. Bitch, Grue, and Regent all made a move to take out the PRT uniforms closest to them, but Tsundere got them first. Her hands were a literal blur of motion as she threw a few dozen shuriken over the span of a few seconds. They found their way into shoulders, legs, and arms. Her ability apparently giving her the skill to throw them with some degree of accuracy. Flechette, Clockblocker, and Vista all hit the ground before the rest of them had time to blink. A few shurikens struck Weld, only to be absorbed into his body. Kid Win dove to the side immediately, his costume absorbing the shuriken for him.

However nine hundred and seventy bugs sweep out from underneath Skitter's costume and the caspian bugs crawled over Kid Win's face.

"It burns!" he cried as he tried to shield his face. Suddenly the swarm Tenant had helped her gather began pouring through doors and windows of the building. She immediately surrounded Weld, Clockblocker, and Vista. She couldn't do much against Weld's metal skin, but she could block his vision along with making sure Vista couldn't see to put her warping effects in place. Every time Clockblocker attempted to move she ordered her bugs to sting and bite the part of his costume were the shuriken cut through the fabric.

Skitter felt Tattletale lifting a foam sprayer at the swarm and immediately made a clear path for the first person Tattletale targeted. Flechette screamed from the caspian bugs that were now away from her face before the foam muffled her. Weld was coated in the foam next, but he was making it difficult by refusing to maintain shape. Suddenly, Regent had Shadow Stalker stick two bolts in each eye before they solidified. Weld began attempting to claw them out, giving them just enough time to coat him thoroughly in the foam. It wasn't difficult after that. Grue coated the remaining Wards in darkness until Tattletale and Imp could coat them in the foam.

They all paused before working towards their next objective. It couldn't have gone better without a single on of them getting taken out of action, but the worst part had yet to come.

"Tsundere," Tattletale said to her. "This area is going to be our best way out, from here to that gift shop. Start working your power on it. Imp and Shadow Stalker can back you up.

"Sounds like fun," Tsundere said with a goofy grin as she moved into position. Immediately the walls and glass around her began to grow smoother, more cartoon like. It would be a few minutes before it had any meaningful effect, but by the time they got the data they should be ready for a fight.

"Skitter?" Tenant asked with a bored tone.

'What is it?'

"How well do you think anime powers are going to work against Dragon when she shows up?"

'What? Dragon?' Tenant rolled his eyes.

"Oops, spoiler alert. But yeah, you're about to have a bad time.


	5. Walking With the Best of Them

"Aw fuck all kinds of duck," I said as Dragon's craft landed outside and immediately began filling the lobby with containment foam. Shadow Stalker turned into her shadow form and Imp disappeared, leaving me essentially alone. Asshats.

I was pretty sure I could have cut through that foam if I had my katanas, but we have left those behind for our 'arrest'. For the time being I was left with a handful shurikens. I felt my power make a few more, but I haven't had long enough time to make them seem infinite yet.

I could feel the Dragon suit within my range and began noting details about it. I could feel around inside of it too, feeling around all the components as my power started affecting it. I found some sort of life form piloting the craft, but I couldn't tell what it was but I knew it was human. I let my power press down on it for the moment, I still had no idea what it did to people I classified as my enemies but it was going to be something.

I wasn't a computer expert or anything, but a gun was a gun and this ship was packing a metric fuck-ton. Yet it wasn't using them. Hmm, curious. Based on what I was sensing it could tear the inside of this place apart, yet it was holding back. A restriction by the pilot's superiors? Was that Dragon herself inside or was that some person warped by their power? Either way, it didn't seem to have a lot of non-lethal weaponry, which is what it was limiting itself to. It was an advantage for me.

I dove out of cover, three shurikens in hand and gave them a throw. I wasn't that skilled in throwing them, but my power seemed to give me what I needed. The six pointed ninja star sank into one of the suit's turrets, causing foam to open expanded over the mech. I counted it as a win even though the other two stars glanced harmlessly off Dragon's suit.

I swore as a glop of foam got my leg and I stumbled behind cover. When I looked back the suit was releasing a vapor that was causing the foam to melt away off her. I swore again, my stars can't do anything against her normal armour and the damage I did to her gun almost didn't matter.

The suits mouth opened and suddenly began spraying some sort of flaming liquid across the lobby. I felt Imp's feet pound the ground as she dodged for cover from the flames. She made her way next to me behind a wall.

"Damn it, how can she do that?" Was her first words when she reappeared.

"She is using cameras to see from within the suit, along with other things I don't know about," Imp swore again. Suddenly I grinned.

"You have that look again," Imp said. I raised an eyebrow.

"What look?"

"The one you get every time you get an awesome idea."

"Wow, you guys must see that face all the time." She and I grinned at each other for a moment before I held up six shurikens in between the spaces between my fingers and said, "Watch this."

I dashed out from the hiding space and leapt into the air, my power letting my sail up until I nearly touch the ceiling. I twisted my body and shouted,

"Holy Shuriken Strike!" All of the sudden the world went so dark it was almost black. Grue? No, this was my power reacting to my shout. I grinned like a mad man as I threw all six shurikens with an impressive body spin. Each star spiral outward in an arc, leaving behind a white trail behind them as the converged on the Dragon suit and punching all the way through it. I landed with a roll and moved to cover, suddenly aware of the rest of The Undersiders joining us.

Six holes the size of baseballs now dotted the suit's body. I don't know if I could do it again, and I'm not sure I want to try. I only had two shurikens left and with my luck it would need a full six to activate the power. I saw Grue do his thing and coat Dragon with darkness to keep her from advancing any further. Which was good because the foam was getting uncomfortable close

"Run through the gift shop, I'll meet you outside!" Grue shouted. I stood up to bolt when I felt someone new move into my power. I heard metal tearing before I even realized who it was.

Grue was banishing the darkness before Brute was done ripping his way through the mech suit. Bitch's dogs right behind him tearing at limbs they could get their claws and mouth on. Electricity leapt to them the moment the touch Dragon's suit and they leapt backwards with various howls of pain. Bitch whistled and motioned her hand, calling the dogs to her. She only lost Judas during the fight with Leviathan, which gave her plenty of trained dogs to use here. All the same, there were two smaller dogs to replace him and the one that was too injured to fight anymore.

Brute didn't seem to care about the electricity burning his arms as he continued to crush and tear the suit apart with his fists. His Russian themed suit was taking a beating, but it was managing to hold together much better than it would have if it was outside of my power.

"Run, run, run!" Grue shouted at me. Right, running. Almost forgot. Although I had always wondered what being electrocuted felt like. And there would be no safer time than now as the machine told specifically not to kill was preoccupied with the heavy hitter on our team. If I could just get close enough to touch as I ran by...

I was distracted as I saw Bitch attempt to shove Skitter into the foam in my vision. I was suddenly aware everyone else was outside of the building except for me and these two. I moved forward to help her, Bitch and I were going to have problems after this. But suddenly I saw Skitter react with faster reflexes than I gave her credit for.

She took a well placed step as Bitch shoved her, as if she saw the move coming, and grabbed Bitch just right to spin her around. In the blink of an eye, Skitter was holding the much heavier Bitch face first just over the foam. That was far more coordination than I had ever seen her move with. Had she been taking lessons or something?

After a moment she let Bitch go, pulling her back to avoid falling into the foam and without another word they ran out of the building. Then it was just me and Imp hiding behind me with her power. I shook the scene out of my head and ran out of the building as fast as I could, which was pretty fast because of anime physics and all.

Skitter was better than me, I would have dropped Bitch into the foam for trying to do me in like that. But maybe she was feeling a little guilty over having almost-but-not-really betraying the team before. Weird people, but I don't think I'm in much a position to talk.

Which reminded me I didn't get a chance to electrocute myself. Damn it!

I suddenly found Assault and Battery in my range and swore. I quickly located the one dog Bitch had that was carrying my stuff. Bentley I think she said.

I grabbed my katanas and bokken. I decided to keep the katanas away for now. Battery could make electro magnetic charges, and I didn't want the metal blade getting caught up in that.

Smoke was pouring out of the building, making things hard to see. I raised a bokken and darted towards Battery. I saw Grue's darkness hit her in the face an momentarily blind her. Seeing my chance I raised the wooden sword and suddenly found Assault standing in my way. A swung my bokken at him, but he redirected it with a wave of his hand. I had the advantage of speed because of my power unleashed a barrage of swipes. Not a single one managed to hit.

I needed to find a new approach. Luckily I didn't need to think too hard as Brute came barreling through the smoke and started swinging at Assault. Immediately, Assault went on the defensive. Brute was fast even without my power making him faster every second he stayed within my effect. And while Assault was almost a perfect counter for him, it meant he couldn't afford to be distracted.

All the same I didn't want to get caught up in that so I went back to charging Battery. One of Bitch's dog steam rolled her as Grue drowned her in darkness. I raised my bokken and shouted, "Seismic Swing!" I entered Grue's darkness in the middle of the swing, but it hardly mattered as I was hyperaware of everything going on in my sphere of influence. The enhanced swing struck Battery in the stomach so hard it created a crater around her, shattering the ground. My power was probably the only thing the stopped her from turning into jelly from the strike. Although she probably felt every bit of pain that would have caused if I let the strike obliterate her soft insides.

I felt Assault moving towards me and Miss Militia entering the battlefield at the same time. Assault found himself trying to fight of Brute again and bugs started swarming Miss Militia. I turned towards Miss Militia, as she was where I was most likely to be helpful, but suddenly found myself no longer needed. One of Bitch's dogs barreled over her and knocked her to the ground. Imp moved behind Assault and hit him hard upside the head, he crumpled to the ground.

I immediately moved towards Tattletale the moment I was sure those two were out of action.

We were moving before I even got there, running to safety before more heros had a chance to show up. I could feel Skitter, Tattletale, Imp and Grue in my range and started exerting power outward from myself. We were going faster and faster every second. Because I had already spent almost twenty minutes of my power working at full effect, I was jumping off roof tops in the same fashion I saw Naruto characters jumped and ran through the trees.

We stopped sometime later to wait for the others. We might have needed to catch our breath in any other scenario, but my power had a ton of passive effects I'm still learning. The instant I felt Bitch, her dogs, Regent and Shadow Stalker enter my range I saw Skitter start forward.

I was mildly surprised when she hit Bitch and started straddling her while angrily saying things into her ear. I couldn't hear and didn't make any attempt to, this seemed like something that should stay between the main team. Brute apparently got the same feeling and moved to stand silently beside me.

I busied myself by reattaching my swords to my waist and replenishing my shuriken stash. I relaxed my influence on the world around me, drawing my power back into my body and allowing it to continue to work its magic on me. I felt a wave of weariness hit me the moment I relaxed my power. I briefly wondered if that was a side effect of my power, but dismissed it as something I would have to check later.

"Kinetic man was very annoying, yaes." Brute said bluntly. I shrugged.

"You got him in the end."

"Bah, horn girl stole final blow. I barely got enough of his strength to lift ball."

"But you got some of his durability too didn't you? That will make thing easier dealing with him in the future." Brute frowned.

"People can regain strength, and durability heals over time too. Healing though take many years. Bad for people I fight."

"You know speaking of which, how did you build up your strength? Clearly, you couldn't just jump in and start swinging at the strong capes immediately." Brute frowned and lifted a cigar to the gap around his mouth on his mask. His hands were completely healed from the electric shocks by now.

"Do not tell Skeeter. She would not like answer, yaes." Brute paused to take a breath from his cigar. "I bullied others for many a year. Picked fights, strong armed the weaklings around school. Vhen I turned eighteen year ago I pick fight with bodybuilder and win. I take so much of strength you could see muscles shrink. Later he sent his friends after me to avenge him or something like that. I was forced to kill one, becoming much more powerful. Ever since I trusted my wielders to build up my strength in constructive way. Is better than killing, yaes." So that made him about nineteen, two years older than me. Strange, if it wasn't for the abs I could almost picturing him being younger than me. Those flat, ridged, sexy abs. I- Wait, no. No, no, no, no, no. I will not think about Brute's abs. I will not. Focus. Find something else to say.

"Then-" I was cut off as Tattletale came up and told us where we were headed to. A grinned, more happy to have a chance to get that out of my mind than anything. So now all I had to do is walk straight into Coil's den and come back out without him ordering me killed. Fun.

* * *

I was having a good day. I got to use my powers in a really fight for the first time. That included me throwing shuriken through one of Dragon's suits, coming incredibly close to completely snapping Battery in half, and jumping across roof tops like a true anime character. I got time to chill in between, Imp and I had a hell of a time screwing with the other members. All and all, I was have the time of my life.

Which makes it all the more depression when you hear Coil's precog predict the end of the world in two years.

"If I were to send the Travellers? How likely would they be to kill him?" Coil asked Dinah. The little kid was absolutely pitiful to see. It almost hurt me just to look at her, so I looked anywhere _but_ at her. I heard Skitter talk about her sometimes, but this was just sad. I got the feeling I wasn't about to start liking Coil anytime soon.

"My head hurts."

"Please, pet, this is important. To one decimal point."

"Twenty two point six percent. Thirty point nine percent chance some of them die."

"And The Undersiders?"

"Twenty two point seven percent. Forty one percent chance they die trying to fight them." Only a point of a percent difference between us and the Travelers? I haven't met them yet, but I liked to think we were at least cooler than them in terms of style.

"Can I ask her a question?" I asked. Everyone turned and looked at me for a moment. Why was everyone doing that? It seems like every time I open my mouth around the team someone looks at me like I just took off my shirt.

Coil turned and placed a hand on Dinah. "Is that alright, pet?" Slowly Dinah nodded her head.

"I think I can answer a few more." Coil turned to me and nodded. I took a step forward and kneeled down in front of Dinah. She would look so adorable if it wasn't for the bags under her eyes.

"Just out of curiosity, what are the chance of The Undersiders killing Jack if I die in say... the next five minutes?" I could feel people staring at me again, literally because I could sense their bodies move slightly after that question.

"Twenty point five percent." Well, that was reassuring, at least everyone now knows I'm at least useful. But to keep myself from looking like a complete ass I had to ask on someone else's behalf too. Let's see...

"What if it was Skitter, instead of me?" I could feel Coil moving forward to stop me from answering another question. That was fine, it would be easier to make it seem I was not completely selfish for wanting to know I was important.

"Eleven point nine percent chance they succeed." My blood went cold and I could sense everyone else freeze. Slowly I stood up and tried to fade into the background. Not so easy as the stupid anime physics made my body completely white to match my feelings. I let my power enter a resting state and saw my colour entering back into my hands, but also saw my depth of field shrink as my eye began returning back to normal. Trying to find a balance between the two states gave me something to focus on while the others talked things out.

Finally, the conversation moved on to territory for everyone. Coil laid out a ground plan giving everyone but Imp, me, and Brute their own territory. Brute would of course follow Skitter, and Imp would hang out with her brother. Which just left me, the odd woman out as it were.

Who would I want to hang out with? I would be working for whoever it was I joined, but I could live with that. Just so long as they made it fun enough. Tattletale could use some power in her corner. I shivered at the thought. No, no more of that. Regent was fun, but kind of a prick. Maybe Bitch, I'm sure she could use some help running her territory, not sure she would want it though. And I wasn't completely convinced she wouldn't kill me in the first couple days. The left Grue and Skitter. I didn't really think too much for either of them. Grue was boring and Skitter was kind of on the fence whether or not she was accepted into the team. Imp was fun to hang out with, but I kind of like talking to Brute. He was simple, easy to understand, plus we are both newer members to the team than anyone else.

I shrugged and said, "I think I'll stay with Skitter for the time being, but I'll go around everyone's territory and see where I'm needed."

"I see," Coil answered. "Well, is there anything else before we part ways for the night?" No one said anything, so we began heading for the exit, with exception of Skitter who stayed behind to have a conversation with Coil.

A little put out not being able to be more useful at the end of the conversation, I turned to follow Brute out. Hopefully I can find some more skulls to crack before the night is over.


	6. Getting on the highway

Taylor woke up after a long and dreamless sleep. She almost felt like she was confused by the strange place she was waking up in before she recognized it as the headquarters, but the secondary consciousness Tenant was maintaining made sure she didn't make that very human mistake. She sighed and sat up, immediately seeing Tenant stretching like he had just woke up as well.

It had been a long night for the two of them, although Taylor wasn't sure Tenant would be affected by it all that much. He didn't ever seem to get tired, not even when she was and it was _her_ mind he was living in.

They had moved into their new base of operation that Coil had provided them. The last two weeks they had been working together to make it a true super villain base. The second floor in particular.

She and Tenant had got a system together where she could extend a measure of trust to him when she was asleep. At midnight Tenant would snap his fingers and she would fall into a dreamless sleep, leaving him to control her power during that time. The next six hours Tenant spent working nonstop working with her bugs. Making sure the black widow spiders were constantly working in a cycle. Eating, silk producing, breeding. He couldn't manage nearly as complexly as she did, stopping him from working on the costumes for everyone. But by morning she would have several yards of silk to start working with.

She was coming more and more to terms with him every day. The simple truth was that she was able to work with Rachel, which meant she could work with someone even as insulting as Tenant got to be. And his power was more and more useful every step they took, resulting in him having a bit more influence when she wanted it. The increased influence made him even more useful, compounding the factor.

Her reading speed was getting to the point she only had to glance at the page and with the increased retention he gave her she could memorize it in that instance. That resulted in almost every night getting spent pouring over books. In the last two weeks, she had learned more about guns, swordplay, martial arts, knife fighting, cold reading a person's reactions, clothing design, negotiation skills, and acting than she had learned in her entire life time.

But it didn't all click. She could memorize it all, but it was more or less like knowing how to play every single note on the piano perfectly. She could read the sheet music, memorize, know how each note is meant to sound, but she was missing that fundamental component that let her string it all together into a comprehensible song.

But even that was getting handled slowly. The more she practiced with her knife and making the costumes the closer the notes sounded like the song the were meant to be. It was still slow learning, but exponentially faster than anyone besides Thinkers could learn.

Her collection of books was growing rapidly. She preemptively asked Coil for three massive black bookcases, and one was already full. They were slowly getting filled with skill books of all sorts. Things were getting to the point where a majority of everything she knew could be found on those shelves And while she held an almost perfect retention of everything in those shelves, Tenant could access her memories and recited word for word every last thing on any page you picked. It was like perfect memory with a middleman in between each detail.

"All ready?" He asked lazily. Today he had his cane back and was twirling it idly.

"Almost," Taylor said aloud. She didn't need to speak to him using her voice, but it felt more natural doing so. "I'd like to try it again this morning." Tenant nodded rose from where he had been sitting. He turned and looked at her, leaning on his cane. He waited until she was ready, which of course he simply knew without any confirmation from her.

Between her two consciousness, two different tasks were accomplished. There was the primary mind, the one that talked to and interpreted everything Tenant did. The second one was in charge of paying attention to the world around her, maintained conversation and preformed the tasks she needed to do. It was a lot like the AI Dragon had built for the armbands and what Tenant suspected to pilot her suits. When the task at hand required a bit more of her focus she would switch the roles, that usually meant during a fight were Tenant fell more or less silent to focus on making it all work.

However now Tenant was prompting the growth of a third mind to join her. This one would be even simpler than the AI-like mind. The hope was that it would keep important information like martial art styles she had memorized at the fore, just in reach whenever she needed it until it became second nature. Tenant said that once she had a good handle on it all the third mind could work like Armsmaster's predictive computer. It would use her frame of reference to generate a detailed outline of what she might expect to happen in the next few seconds. Incredibly useful when fighting fast opponents and avoiding projectiles.

But just as the third mind was approaching its climax and becoming established she felt it pop like a bubble. The exact result she had felt a dozen times. Tenant let out a tired sigh.

"What happened this time?" She asked. Tenant rolled his eyes.

"You're annoying human emotions got in the way again. Your brain is taxed to capacity until you give me more room. Of course, I could make the room for a third mind and even a fourth if you just let me-"

"No," She said sharply. He was talking about taking control of her involuntary reflexes again. She couldn't let him do that. She couldn't quite explain why, but it felt like going too far. Like he was breaking some taboo by suggesting it. Tenant sighed again.

"Stupid, but whatever you want I suppose." Tenant paused. "All ready for doing the plan today?" Taylor nodded. Everyone on The Undersiders and The Travelers would be making bids for territory today. And she and Tenant had finished setting up for it last night making their plan.

"Do you think it will work." Tenant snorted dismissively.

"Of course it will work, people are idiots." Taylor nodded. She didn't completely agree, but she knew what he meant.

Taylor slipped into her costume and became Skitter before slipping down stairs onto the second floor. Brute was leaning against a wall watching Riza practice with her shuriken against a dummy they had set up away from the terrariums. She was back in her black crop top that said 'Badass' on the front. Apparently, she had a lot of those.

She was throwing the stars without her power to guide her. And her aim was getting uncanny. Skitter watched silently as she flicked her wrist three times and each time a razor sharp star went flying out, each one striking roughly the same place on the dummy. Of course things would be different in a combat situation, but she could rely on her power to fill in the gap.

Riza smiled when she say Skitter watching. And lowered her hand and flicked the stars that were in her in hand lightly in the air before catching them and hiding them in between her breasts. Skitter's eye twitched at that.

"You're staring again." Tenant commented with a slightly amused tone.

'She is lucky enough to have those and she is shoving sharp objections in them like they are glorified storage containers.' Skitter thought at him defensively. Tenant sarcastically pretended to look baffled at the way she said that, then paused for a moment.

"Actually, I've been thinking on that. I-"

'I bet you have.' Tenant acted offended for a moment.

"What I was _going_ to say was that you should make your identity harder to discern by putting in fake breasts in your custom." Skitter was about to retort to that when she realized that it wasn't that bad of an idea. She was sixteen, it wouldn't be hard for the local capes to assume that the growth was because she was a late bloomer. The real issue would be dealing with Alec, Imp, and probably Riza. Tattletale would probably have a few comments on it too, but she could deal with that at another time.

"That is going to be one interesting call to Coil." Tenant mused. "Hello? Yeah, can I get a pair of B or C cup silicone breasts? I assure you that it is of the utmost importance." Skitter decided to ignore that for the moment and turned her attention to Riza and Brute.

"Are you ready for the job today?" Brute nodded seriously from where he stood.

"Well, thing is," Riza began, "I can help you and all, but Tattle wanted me and Imp to help her knock some heads in her own territory. I can stay if you want but..."

'But Imp is more fun.' Skitter finished in her head. Tenant shrugged.

"We don't need her for the tone you're going to want to set. I say dump her of for Tattletale to babysit." Skitter nodded in agreement, although it would look like confirmation to Riza.

"Alright," Skitter told her, "But do exactly what Tattletale says or I'll put another spider in your bed." Riza paled a little.

"Right," Riza said with a slightly forced cheerful tone. "But before I go, Brute picked a name." Skitter raised an eyebrow.

"You picked a civilian name?" Brute grunted. "What did you pick?"

"Stravik." Skitter nodded.

"Good, then let's get loaded up." Stravik nodded and moved away from the wall. He ran a hand through his shaggy black hair before walking toward the door.

* * *

The first part of the plan was simple. Gather a massive black cloud over the centre of her territory. With Tenant increasing her range to five blocks, Skitter grabbed every last bug in her territory, which now included her house. She was uncertain about making him part of the territory, but Tenant assured her it wouldn't be a problem after they changed her costume a bit more. For now, she just didn't invite that section of the territory.

People were already beginning to show as her bugs urged them from all over her soon to be territory. Her bugs finding them and directing them in one direction, the centre of the swarm. The cloud was rotating rapidly clockwise in the air over the area they had decided on, enough to cast a shadow without completely blocking out the sun. Slowly, Skitter and the others approached with a much thicker swarm of bugs coating them, shielding them from view as they passed.

People had gathered in a largely open area, waiting to see what was going to happen and unable to leave as her bug created a way behind them that only let people enter. Skitter took a small breath and told Brute to step forward.

Brute was carrying a large platform with ten supply crates, the dozen of Coil's men, and herself, all held above his head in an impressive display as he stepped through the mass of bugs like a ship breaking through a wave. People instinctively moved backwards, but the bugs stopped them from going anywhere.

Brute sat the platform down in the street, the platform doubled for showmanship and keeping the crates out of the water. Skitter rose, standing above everyone else on a box as Coil's men began opening boxes.

"Some of you know me!" Skitter called over the crowd. "You may call me Skitter, and you are now all part of my territory. But rest assured, I am not the ABB! I am not the Merchants, The Empire or The Chosen. These groups will no longer be allowed operate in this area." Tenant had located Battery in the crowd and Skitter paid a little more attention in her direction.

"I have come to act in your interests, so rest assured that you will be protected completely free of all payment you may have been asked for from aforementioned gangs for the same treatment." Skitter waved a hand at the supply crates behind her, and clumps of bugs she had hanging around cleared out of the way for more a visual effect to the movement. "Every family is welcome to some supplies I have here. Food rations, water filters, first aid, anything you might need in the coming weeks during reconstruction. If your family is large enough you may have two." Skitter paused and looked out over the crowd.

"I don't want anything from you accept your corporation. Do not assist other gangs, do not sell drugs, do not steal, do not hurt others. If you do I _will_ know." She gathered a cloud of bugs around her hands and held them up for everyone to see. "I have millions of eyes to watch you from. Play nice and you get to sleep without worrying of bugs biting you in your sleep or tainting your food. Do not and you learn just how fast my army ants can strip flesh from your bones.

"With that said, I thank you for listening. You are welcome to come forward and take some supplies, but if you want more, if your want a better place to stay for you and your family, if you want _pay_ , come work for me. You don't need to do anything criminal, pass messages, help with the rebuilding, distribute supplies out to others, there are a number of things you can do to help the other people in the territory. If this interests you, talk to Brute, the man in the Russian clothing." With that speech done, Skitter raised her hand in the air in a completely unnecessary motion that made it look like she was dispersing all the bugs. The cloud above her cleared an open space in the sky so the bugs were moving a halo around the area, barely visible from where they were.

The first man stepped forward. His wife and kids behind him. The parents didn't meet her eyes and the children hid behind their mother who look like she had a cold. When the father accepted the box one of Coil's men handed to him. The family began moving away, but for a moment the father met her eyes. He nodded once then turned away, a crush of bodies surging forward directly after him as they found a bit more courage after seeing him coming out unscathed.

Skitter and Tenant made sure they would have more than enough. It would be better for come out with more than needed than less. It would also serve to show how well off they were.

Things were going well until she heard shouting. The crowd parted around a man flanked on either side by a group of other men with him. He was holding a rusty knife and seemed to be enjoying the reaction of everyone around him. The scruff of beard on the chin of the lead man was white, but it seemed rather premature given his apparent age. He was shirtless, with a long sleeve shirt tied around his waist, and scratches crisscrossing his upper body. His buddies stood back, smirking and grinning.

"See?" Tenant said, "People are idiots." Skitter silently agreed with him on this one, it was incredibly stupid to attempt this right in front of her, and that ignoring the fact that he had to have seen Brute carry them in.

"You there." Skitter said, stalking forward slowly. "Do you think that crude knife of your makes you tough? That it make you strong and important?"

"Fuck you! I'm not scared of bugs." Skitter stopped and tilted her head slightly. They were now only two yards apart now, people watching intently to see what would happen.

"Would you like to be?" Skitter asked, she held her hand out to the side and four tendrils formed out of the halo of bugs in the sky. They each arced downward, depositing a mass of bugs in her hand. "Because if you plan on threating my people, then you better be ready to face me."

"I'm not scared of you!"

"Then prove it, use that knife on me. Or are all of the Merchants just as cowardly as Skidmark?" The man's eyes widened a little bit more as Skitter labeled him. He lifted his knife as if he was going to attack, but didn't follow through.

"What is the problem? Weren't you tough just a minute ago when you were threatening unarmed people? Is all it takes is a few flies to over power you? Are you that much of a weak bully?" The man launched forward and attempted to thrust the knife in her side. She felt Tenant slowing time slightly around her, just enough to notice. She waited for him to get within arms reach of the knife before spring into action.

Tenant only slowed her perception of time, not speed up her body to accommodate it. She watched her body move slightly slower as she grabbed his wrist. The moment she had the grip and stance she wanted she silently told Tenant to release the time effect.

But in real time she twisted his arm and pulled him forward, forcing him to drop the knife. A quick flash of her elbow and she broke his arm where she twisted it before shoving him back and letting caspian bugs flow from underneath her armour and over his face. Causing him to scream and cry as he tried to put out the burning feeling in the water without lying on his broken arm.

Battery was suddenly there in front of her a second after Skitter had picked up the knife the man had dropped.

"I can't let you do that." She said.

"Wasn't planning to," Skitter said dismissively. She gently tossed the knife towards her. Battery dispersed her power and caught it by the handle. Skitter looked her over for a moment. "But just out of curiosity, what do you think you could have done to stop me if I wanted to?" Through her bugs she could feel Brute moving towards her with a small following of people behind him. Battery looked at her then at Brute before answering.

"I would have tried to stop you, whether I thought I could win or not. That's what it means to be a hero." Suddenly Tenant moved forward and glared at Battery.

"Skitter," he started, "Let me have the reins on this conversation."

'Are you sure?'

"Yes." Skitter moved into a mindset that would let her repeat everything Tenant said as he said it. Not giving him any measure of control, but enough that he might as well have been speaking himself.

"Do you want to know the real difference between a hero and a villain, Battery? Villains are more honest."

"What? Your kind lies, cheats, and steals their way through life and you claim to be more honest?"

"Sure, we lie to others," they said in stride, "But unlike heros, there is one thing we almost never do; lie to ourselves." They observed Battery tense in a way that suggested they hit a nerve of some sort.

'Someone she knows?' Skitter asked.

'Or someone she likes,' Tenant answered.

"You see," they continued as if nothing had happened, "We know what we are, and we know what we have to do. But heroes can be the most honest person to others, but they will always lie to themselves to convince themselves that they are happy the way things are." Their head tilted. "But you already knew that, didn't you? Someone you know is like that, aren't they? Maybe you have been seeing it, maybe you didn't want to believe it. But the reality is, this person you know is a villain at heart because of lack that self-delusion you and every other hero around you has." Tenant relaxed and slid into the background again, actually looking worn out from the effort of the effect.

Battery stared at them for a long moment, not saying anything or moving at all. Suddenly her power swelled and she darted away, disappearing from sight around a building. But with her bugs, Skitter could tell she was beginning to stumble before she got far after that.

Skitter and Tenant returned to the crates and began silently observing the remaining people going through. Brute had about twenty men and a few woman signing on with him. Most looked like previous ABB members. They had counted on that. It would be better to have everyone doing no criminal work, but it didn't hurt to have experienced gang members on hand in case something requiring a more villain element to deal with.

'I don't approve of what you did.' Skitter said.

"But you wouldn't change it either." He answered uncaringly. "Whether you liked it or not, it was effective." Skitter was about to say something in response when a girl walked up to her, trying to get her attention without being overt. She had red hair that was tied into deadlocks she had probably been growing for years, covered partially with a colourful bandana. She was pale and wide-eyed, fidgeting back and forth. Nervous, Skitter observed.

"You got a box, is there something else?" She nearly jumped.

"You said you would protect us, and you took down that Merchant man a few minutes ago. Does that mean you'll fight them?" Skitter nodded, not sure where this was going.

"My kid brother. I- _he_ needs help. My parents are sick and they're in the hospital and I can't tell them because I told them I'd take care of him, um, and I asked the cops but they're so busy and there's no way they can help, and I was going to ask that hero, Battery, but then she _disappeared_ so _fast_ and I- I just- I-" She was beginning to choke up and her words were becoming less and less intelligible the more she spoke. She began shaking again.

"Stop, take a breath, and when you're ready, tell me what it is you want to tell me." She looked up and swallowed.

"The Merchants took my kid brother. I want you to get him back. _Please._ " Skitter heard Tenant sighing behind her.

"I get the feeling you're annoying sense of goodwill is going to get us dragged into something we should probably stay out of but you're going to do anyway, because you're you." Another sigh. "Oh well, it'll be interesting at least."


	7. Tripping

I had two weeks to train and hang out until everyone had decided to claim their territories. Not that I didn't appreciate the exercise, but I had told myself I would deal with the fact that I could never go back to my old life during the break.

I was always aware of it. It lingered in the back of my mind where it had been since I triggered. I had chosen to focus on the path ahead of me to avoid it. Following Skitter to help Armsmaster, joining the Undersiders when I got the chance, training with me new power and weapons, hanging out with Aisha, whatever kept me busy. But I couldn't keep it out of my mind, not forever.

I sighed and looked up at the ruined buildings along the Boardwalk. It sucked. It all just sucked. One moment I'm helping my mother bake the cupcakes for the day's sales in the bakery. I think she wanted me to take the shop over one day, but then the sirens went off signalling the Endbringer on route to our location.

My mother, meticulous as ever insisted we shut off every light, stove, and unplug everything except the freezers and refrigerators. My father burst through the door shouting at us to get our stuff together and my little sister had burst into tears. My mother had told us to grab the things I packed and my little sister and head outside while she and my father locking everything down and got done yelling at each other.

I remember how my eyes widened as the Leviathan stepped on the small bakery. We had taken too long and the Leviathan moved too fast. I remember my five old little sister holding on tight to my finger as the building collapsed. Then a wave of water hit us and we got separated.

I stood up as soon as I was able and started looked for Miza among the water. I found her collapsed and coughing up water some twenty or thirty feet away. I picked her up and clutched her against my shoulder. I think it was at that moment I realized how fragile she was. She was so light even when soaked with water. It was terrifying. She coughed against my shoulder weakly. I looked up and saw the Leviathan looming above. I swallowed as I saw the hero's buzzing around it like flies, striking it left and right with impressive effects. I increased my grip on Miza and started running.

I couldn't remember how I got there, but eventually I found myself in the carport I would soon trigger in. I thought I was getting as far away from the Leviathan as fast as I could, but I suddenly found it just outside the carport. Its tail clipped the side of the building. I didn't see what happened in the mess of rock but I felt myself go flying and a sharp pain where Miza had been. I was dazed for a moment, staring at the grey ceiling above me. I looked over and saw the metal rebar in my shoulder. But past that I saw Miza's feet sticking out from underneath a car, a pool of blood soaking into her yellow sundress.

I felt something snap in my mind and I suddenly triggered. The information flowing forward from everything around me it gave me something to focus on. I did the only thing I could think to do and I ignored what was going on around me. I pushed it out of my mind and did everything I could do not to think about it. I knew I would have probably broken down in tears back then. Now I was just sad.

I took a deep breath and continued forward. I guess I did it. Somehow I thought facing the fact that my entire family had died would be much harder, much more dramatic. Or maybe I was just thinking that because that's what would happen in an anime.

But as sad as it was, I can't afford to dwell on it. I had things to do, things to focus on. After all, that had worked out for me so far.

I entered Tattletale's hideout with the crowd of people moving into the shelter. I passed the big burly man she had stationed to direct everyone, but I knew he was really on watch for Merchant members. I made my way to the front desk and slid into the room behind it where Lisa and Taylor were already waiting and talking. I was also aware of Imp hiding in the corner, but it seemed she didn't want to be seen for the moment. Lisa smiled at me the moment I walked into her information network hub. I had seen it already, but it was still slightly impressive. I recognized Minor, Senegal, Jaw, and Brooks.

"Well geez Lisa," I said to her, looking the three large men and Brooks up and down. "You could have at least gotten some good looking guys to take us." Lisa grinned.

"Unfortunately, it is hard to find supermodel soldiers, but I'll keep looking."

"Mm, you better," I said looking them over. My eyes fell on the shorter man, Brooks. "I guess I'll take this one." Brooks made a face but didn't say anything.

"Minor, you're with me and Senegal, you go with Taylor." Jaw raised an eyebrow.

"Four men and three girls?" Suddenly Aisha popped into existence and put a hand on Jaw's arm.

"I guess that means this one is mine."

"What the fuck?" Brooks and Jaws said together. I smirked.

"Watch it," Minor spoke. Both of the two of them looked like they had been slapped. Lisa grabbed arm bands from a drawer and started passing them out to each of us. I got a yellow one.

Lisa and Taylor talked a bit more back and forth as we made our way out of the base and towards the Merchant event we were going to infiltrate. Brooks stayed a distance away from me up until the point we were getting to the door. Probably because the last time Tattletale paired me with him during a job I nearly broke his foot.

Aisha and I were both wearing short shorts. She had a black strapless top and I wore one of my few white crop tops. Only my top said 'Look out, badass here'. I was waiting for someone to point out how my civilian clothing almost always had a crop top shirt that said 'badass' somewhere on it. However, to my disappointment, no one did. Aisha and I stayed close to each other all the way there. At one point Aisha elbowed me and pointed out how Brooks would glance at my chest every few minutes. I grinned as an idea appeared in my head.

"Check this out." Aisha immediately grinned with me, that had become something of a catch phrase with us. Slowly, I began seeping my power into him. When I felt it was about right for what I wanted I asked,

"Brooks?"

"What?" He asked swiftly, turning to face me more fully. With a sly grin, I put my hands together in front of me and use my arms to press my breasts up and together before saying,

"Of you keep staring you might as well see them in full." The effect was delayed, but a secoud later blood exploded out his nose with enough force that he was sent sprawling to the ground.

Aisha and I burst out laughing as Brooks attempted to get back to his feet. I could see Segenal and Jaw making no attempts to mask their silly grins as Taylor failed to resist smiling. Lisa was grinning, but she did that alot.

"What the hell was that?" Brook growled while attempting to stem the tide of blood with a hand. I relaxed my power on him and the bleeding stopped almost instantly. It was Aisha that answered him.

"The sight of Riza's tits was so, heh, stimulating that you began bleeding out your nose." She began to cackle madly and Jaw started to chuckled. Lisa put a hand to her forehead and shook it.

"At this rate it'll be dark before we even get there," Taylor told us. Aisha rolled her eyes, but started walking forward anyway. I cast a glance at Brooks and winked once, causing a little bit more blood to leak out his nose. He shot me an angry look but I was already walking forward to join the rest.

We were at the 'party' a minute later and I almost fell over when the smell hit. The only reason I didn't was because I was scared of what might be on the floor. It smelled like sweat and garbage. Not to mention we had to push our way through the crowd of smelly, rowdy, drugged, people

"You should have brought Stravik." I said, staying as close to Taylor and the others so I didn't lose them and Senegal and Jaw pushed us through the crowd.

"I needed someone to watch the territory," she answered automatically, like she had the thought prepared. "Besides, he probably would have broken somebody's bones by accident." Suddenly we stopped by a man attempting to sell Minor another woman. When he declined the man tried to sell them drugs, but when Minor tried to turn them down Lisa stepped in and purchased a something called 'decadence'. She handed me a pill and I looked it over while she was attempting to convince Taylor to take it.

Drugs and anime powers? I would say it was a bad idea if I wasn't so curious. I looked at Aisha and we grinned together. We linked our arms together and popped the pills simultaneously with the linked arms and then we waited.

"Just a sugar pill," Lisa whispered into my ear.

"Damn it," I said, a little disappointed. Man, that would have been awesome. Aisha looked a little sad too, but I think Grue would have personally killed Lisa if she had actually given her drugs.

We suddenly stopped when we walked past a display where women were changing their clothing for the other's viewing pleasure. Some of them look like they were actually enjoying themselves, but there were at least two that were clearly forced up there. One was doing her best to put on a show, but the other was a shaking teenager who looked too terrified to do anything.

I felt a pang of sympathy for her. I could see Lisa urging us forward and I suddenly felt guiltly at the very idea of leaving her up there. Fortunately, Taylor was ahead me on that one.

"We need to help her," she said seriously.

"There is at least a hundred people in here that need help," Lisa said to her. "We can't save everyone."

"But we _will_ help her. I'm not going to be able to walk away with this without doing something."

"I agree," I said suddenly cutting my way into their conversation. Taylor looked a bit baffled at me. Was I really that bad? "And I have an idea." Lisa looked me over for a moment.

"No," she said flatly.

"But it would work." I protested.

"That is why I don't want you to do it."

"Come on, please? Aisha is already getting ready." Lisa looked around and swore when she didn't see her around.

"Alright, but just this _one_ time." I flashed a grin and darted up on stage. They got ready to drag me down and throw insults until they realized I was another woman and suddenly they cheered.

"Hey everyone!" I shouted, a say a few dozen head turn my way, I guess not many could hear over the music. Oh well, there were enough looking my way for what I was about to do. I grabbed my top and pulled it down flashing the crowd. Like a wave, the crowd in front of me fell backwards in a chaotic storm of bleeding noses and tripping people. The only people still standing in the immediate vicinity was Lisa's guys who she wisely told to advert their eyes. Although I think Taylor was glaring at me for some reason.

As I put everything back where it belonged I turned and saw the women backing into the clothing store while the teenager from before was being dragged off by an invisible set of hands. The rest of us moved to follow Aisha and the girl down the hallway they moved into while the piles of nose bleeding men struggled and fought among themselves.

The girl was crying before we even got there and Aisha looked severely uncomfortable. Girl looked up wild eyed as we surrounded her from where she was crouching on the ground.

"You're safe," Lisa assured her. "We're not doing anything to you."

The girl wiped at her eye with the back of one hand, smearing thick eyeshadow and eyeliner across her temple

"But-"

"She's right," Minor spoke, standing, "You're as safe as you're gonna get for the next little while."

"Oh god," the girl sobbed. She moved forward, ready to give Minor a hug, but he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. He didn't speak, but only turned to Lisa.

"Don't thank him. Thank those two there." She pointed at me and Taylor with two fingers. "If they hadn't insisted we would have been on our way." One moment the girl was standing there, the next she had thrown her arms around Taylor.

"Thank you." Taylor reflexively hugged her back.

"I didn't do anything," She said.

"Yeah," I said, "I did. Over here, significantly short on hugs and thanks."

"Thank you," she repeated. Now I was confused.

"Was that for me or-"

"Oh god."

"What?" Taylor asked, suddenly tense.

"Have you realized I flashed a bunch of drug fiends for you yet?" I got the distinct impression I was getting ignored.

"You go- you went to Winslow high."

"No." Taylor responded. I turned and looked a Lisa.

"Am I not here or something?"

"You're the locker girl." I suddenly looked back to the exchange between the two of them. Locker girl? Where had I heard that before? It sounded vaguely familiar, maybe someone from around- suddenly it clicked.

Oh. _Oh,_ fuck all kinds of duck.

"You were the locker girl?" I asked incredulously. That was why she was pissed at Shadow Stalker?

" _Both_ of you are thinking of the wrong person, and I seriously suggest you drop it." Suddenly the girl bit her lip. I almost felt guilt, but _really_. She was the locker girl? There were a dozen ways off the top of my head I could see her screwing with Emma and Sophia by doing. Why hadn't she ever done anything? Did she seriously let herself get bullied by those assholes, or was there another reason? I suddenly felt the distinct urge to punch someone as I thought about it. I made a note to punch Shadow Stalker in the face on Taylor's behalf the next time I saw her.

"Lisa, let's keep moving," Taylor said curtly, turning on her heels.

"Wait! You can't just leave me here!" Taylor looked between the girl and Lisa.

"It's up to you if you want to take her with us. Or we can have Aisha and Riza watch her." Taylor sighed. I noticed the girl was looking desperately between them.

"She can come."

"More dead weight." Brooks said.

"Keep it up Brooks," I threatened, shooting him a glare. Brooks held my gaze for a second then shrugged.

"Whats going on?" the girl asked. Suddenly Aisha threw her arm around her and said,

"Trust me when I say you don't want to know." That seemed to quite the girl.

We spent about five more minutes trying to find the kid Taylor was apparently looking for. I spent most of that time reminding the girl she didn't thank me. Eventually I got her to say it, but she didn't respond to anything else I said. Now I really felt bad.

I decided I would do better looking for Taylor's guy with the others for now. I looked up and saw a guy I recognized only from his photo walking across the catwalk above. Skidmark. He was setting up some containers around him. More drugs? I didn't like the thought, this party was barely staying from being a bloodbath as it was, they didn't need any more drugs in circulation here. I was about to say something when they apparently found the kid they were looking for.

They were just about to approach him when Skidmark announced his presence. "Hey Sisterfuckers!" We all paused and looked up at the platform he had built were the rubble was highest. Skidmark was grinning like an idiot, but I got the feeling he did that a lot.

"We have a free-for-all brawl planned for you piss-lickers tonight! Anything goes, use a weapon or jump in at the last second, I don't give a fuck! But whichever one of you shit-stains gets to be the last five standing in the ring, you get a little prize." Skidmark held up a round cylinder taken from the box. "Powers in a can!" A cheer went up from everyone in the crowd, cut off suddenly when an earth shattering crash sounded on the roof.

I could sense everyone around me freeze and look up where the crash came from. There was silence for a second as everyone waited. There was another loud thump and the ceiling sprinkled dust on us.

"Taylor?" Lisa asked quitely.

"A Tinker." Taylor said. "Orange hair, black and pink power suit of some strange design, hard to make out." I wanted to ask something but paused. Since when could she see through he bugs? My thinking was interrupted as the roof cracked along the edges. It took me a moment to realize what was happening. The roof was being _lifted._

A cute ginger girl poked her head into the room from where she held the roof up. She smiled widely as she scanned the room with her wide green eyes.

"Ooo, a party." She said happily.

"Oh shit," Lisa swore.

"What? Who is she?" I asked, my hand drifting towards my chest for the hidden shuriken.

"The siege weapon Tinker, Queen of the Castle."


	8. Sliding

"What the fuck? What do you mean what the fuck?" Lisa said, her eye widening. Taylor turned her head and stared Lisa.

"What's happening?" Lisa was staring angrily off into space as if she was talking to someone else entirely.

"You're my power! How can you not know, you always know!"

"Lisa!" Taylor shouted, lightly slapping her across the face. "What's going on." The slap seemed to do it as Lisa blinked and then shook her head out of the daze.

"My power its- its having its own personal mental breakdown and I'm not even sure how that is possible." Taylor glanced up at Queen of the Castle. She wore pink, black, and white power armour with dozens of unrecognizable weapons placed all around her. Miniature missiles were flying from unseen portions on her armour and causing explosions the size of small cars all around The Merchants. It didn't look like Skidmark made it thirty seconds after Queen of the Castle began opening fire.

"Lisa we need to move." Taylor urged. Lisa nodded and made a hand motion to Minor who turned and began instructing the other soldiers she brought.

"Should I distract her?" Riza asked. Taylor looked her over and automatically knew her power was already working. She was holding it back, letting it seep into her but not letting the effects take hold. Probably waiting for the go ahead.

'Tenant,' Taylor thought.

"On it," he responded. Tenant lifted his hands and closed his eyes to focus. Taylor felt her two mind slowly move into each other and fuse together. Immediately she was aware of everything around her. She could see and hear through her bugs and was able to understand and process that information from every single bug in the area. Her own senses doubled and she gained the capability to intuitively take in and understand every detail no matter how small that her eyes and ears took in.

"You have a few tidbits on Queen of the Castle." Tenant said. "But nothing critical. She is know as 'The Mad Siege Tinker' I think I understand why now." Even though the conversation between Tenant and her was taking place almost instantaneously, Queen of the Castle was putting on a show every second Tenant has to pause to do something. She was laughing happily as she opened fire with miniature machine guns on the underside of her arms. Merchants were collapsing left and right.

Taylor clenched a fist.

'How many people have died?' Tenant paused what he was doing.

"I don't think we should be using processing power to-"

'Answer the question Tenant.' Tenant fell silent and she could feel the numbers running somewhere in her subconscious, drawing information from her bugs and her own senses.

"Fifty seven so far, climbing every second." Taylor mentally nodded and turned her

'I have an idea in mind, got anything better?'

"I do. Your idea, using Tsundere's power over Tattle's soldiers to help us barrel through this people is only going to make us a target. She has been striking large groups."

'You want us to split up?'

"Yes, smaller groups. Two in each, sticking to the edges of the room while avoiding groups of stampeding people."

'With Tsundere and Imp to distract her for the best chance of escaping.'

"God, it's nice to have a host that can keep up with me." Tenant paused. "Wait, Faultline's Crew coming in. Shouldn't be hard to get them to work with Tsundere once they see Queen doing her thing."

'Got it.' The entire exchange only took a few seconds and she was back into the fray.

"Riza, Aisha, do your thing." Riza grinned and almost as if the snapped her fingers she was an anime character again. She struck an interesting balance between the two kinds of existence, her body keeping most of its dimensions while her features stretched and shrank until she resembled the cartoon more than a normal person. She always seemed to have trouble with the lips though.

This time when she allowed the accumulating power to flood over her her blond hair turn it a shiny black. Aisha disappeared from most people's minds, but Tenant allowed for continued observation.

"Lisa, go with Minor towards the hole in the wall over there." She pointed on the other side of the mall, along the wall they were closest to. "Senegal and I will go through there," Taylor pointed at the opposite wall, "and meet you in the front." Lisa raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as she instructed Jaw and Brooks were and they supposed to do and go.

She and Senegal dodged and weaved through the crowd expertly. Senegal shoving anyone who got in there way and Taylor ducking and twisting to avoid touching anyone. Tenant stopped a few background functions and slow time to a quarter of its speed for her mind, giving her more time to notice and avoid other people's bodies.

Through her bugs she could feel Tsundere leaping all around as she avoided Queen's missiles, each time she managed to leap forward a few more feet. She threw a shuriken at her but just before it struck and would have sunk into her armour at the shoulder, some sort of sonic blast shot out from her suit and not only stopped the shuriken, but also killed all the bugs Taylor had placed in the area.

She saw Faultline's Crew grabbing the canisters that Skidmark had said would give a person powers. They didn't seem to care about anything more than that.

Her bugs told her that Jaw lifting the kid, Bryce, they came for while Brooks was escorting the girl they had saved out through a third path out of the ruined mall. They were almost to the hole in the wall where she had pointed when Tenant spoke.

"Careful, Queen shot you through your right leg." Taylor glanced down and saw he was right. "I don't think she hit anything important, no pain signals from the bone or major arteries. But you might want to avoid aggravating it nonetheless." Taylor nodded and then noticed something happening in one area of the mall. Through her bugs she could see a kid with glowing orbs popping in and out of existence around him.

"Senegal." Taylor ordered while Tenant made a disapproving noise in the background. "There is a kid back there, recently triggered. We're going back and grabbing him, the flashes of lights around him look harmful, but they won't touch you." Senegal nodded once and let her lead the way. As she moved she let her two mind split again, the secondary one turning on to Queen and Tsundere's fight.

Tsundere was in striking distance now, but was trying to avoid weapon's mounted on Queen's arm. A telescoping battering ram and some sort of sonic cannon. Queen seemed unable to use the missiles in that range and there was a shuriken stuck inside the machine gun on her right arm.

Tsundere was holding a pair of knives she probably picked up off someone and was attempting to slash the components on her suit. Her power was steadily increasing as the fight drew on. She was becoming a blur of movement each time she darted to a new position, only visible when she was actually moving to attack.

"You're not the bad men!" Queen wailed plaintively as she reach down and pulled something from the mechanized combat skirt that was part of her suit. Tsundere hesitated in the next attack, changing at the last second and leaping backwards. Queen held up a large red blade that cut through the wall behind her.

"You're after villains?" Tsundere asked.

Taylor found the kid she had been talking about before unconscious on the ground. She practically shoved him into Senegal's arms and they turned to run back towards the hole they wanted to escape from.

"Nope," Queen of the Castle answered, "But the shiny capes leave me alone more if I test my weapons on bad men." Queen suddenly did a back flip and opened fire with miniature missiles again. Tsundere darted out of the way and threw a knife at her, it glanced off her upper thigh.

A small explosion suddenly erupted from the soles of Queens feet, propelling her forward and stabbing Tsundere in the shoulder. Tsundere swore and moved further out of the way, but Queen made a wide gesture with her remaining machine gun, shooting everywhere, but still missing Tsundere.

"Careful you idiot." Tenant hissed at her. Taylor suddenly realized a bullet had struck all the way through her chest, a dull pain creeping forward despite Tenant attempting to block the signals to her brain. "She missed your heart, but you might have a punctured lung." Tenant informed her. "I'm triggering an adrenaline rush to compensate in three, two, one-" Taylor's eyes widen as the substance was released began to flow through her. She worked a bit harder at moving towards the door.

"We don't have to fight," Tsundere was saying. "If you joined us we would give you unending targets to test your stuff on. And if the heros come after you, we can fight them together, we'll have each others backs." Tsundere stabbed a knife into Queen's other machine gun.

"Nope," Queen said, pulling out a second blade from her mechanized combat skirt. "People and me don't work together at all. They say my things are too big, that I'm crazy, that I break too many buildings."

"I wouldn't say that." Tsundere told her. "The suit you're wearing looks awesome! Why would anyone want stop you from making that?" Suddenly Queen stopped moving and tilted her head.

"You really think so?" Tsundere grinned and strode up to her nonchalantly, one hand pressed against her shoulder to stem the bleeding.

"Of course, I've heard of a lot of Tinkers, but how many have _combat skirts_ as part of their costume?" Queen began jumping up and down.

"I know! Isn't great, it gives me so much armour and I can hide things in it too! It a skirt and an armoury!"

"Like those swords you have." Queen began jumping up and down, clapping her hands together.

"My armour piercing blades? That not even the half of it! I've got grenades and EMPs and C4 and shaped explosives and wall drills and glass cutters and laser cutters and all this other stuff I don't even know what to call!"

"Sweet! I just think, if you joined us we could give you all the supplies you need and plenty of people to use them on." Queen tilted her head and paused.

"I'll think about it."

"Trust me when I saw its _really_ fun!" Queen eye's widened again.

"Really, _really_ fun?"

"Oh like you wouldn't believe."

"Now I really have to think about it. See you later cartoon girl." Queen turned to leave when Tsundere said,

"Look forward to it, and its Tsundere by the way." Queen offered a grin before sticking her arms out, wings extending out the length of her arms. Small thrusters appeared and she started flying away. The second she was a good distance away from the roof Aisha reappeared where Queen had been standing.

"Did you just win a fight by recruiting the person that was trying to kill you?" Tsundere considered it a moment.

"Yeah, I suppose I did." The two of them chuckled and then start making their way towards the rest of the group.

Taylor approached Lisa and the others a good distance away from the mall and collapsed against a wall, all the energy she had leaving her in an instant. Lisa snapped something and Brooks immediately moved to work on the holes in her chest and leg.

"How the fuck did you stay standing?" Lisa said, moving by Taylor's side.

"I had a lot of incentive." She answered.

"The bullet clipped her lungs." Brooks said. "It isn't serious now, but you're going to want to get her to the doctor." Suddenly, she felt the rest of the pain clear away and the lightheadedness she hadn't realized was accumulating dispersed. Riza and Ashia walked the corner a moment later.

"You stopped losing blood." Tenant observed. "Or rather your still losing blood, but Tsundere is making it pointless. I can't tell if she is making more blood or is just replacing it all as it gets lost, but you won't run out so long as she is nearby." Taylor nodded just as Riza spotted her and her eye widened.

"Riza," Taylor called. Riza froze in place, unsure if she should move or not. "Please don't invite psychopath Tinkers to join the team." Riza relaxed and grinned.


	9. Finding my footing

This sucked. I thought that joining the villains would have been fun, and it has to some degree. I just thought it would be more. But I don't even feel like an Undersider at all. I'm there for the fun stuff, I guess. I got to fight Dragon's suits, Tattletale calls on me and Imp whenever she needs some heads bashed, Skitter sends me and Brute to make some displays around the territory every now and then, and then there was the thing with the Merchants. But I don't get to be part of the _important_ things.

I don't get to talk to Coil about supplies, he barely acknowledges me. I was basically ignored for when the whole end of the world thing came up. I have been left out of every conversation about the Slaughterhouse Nine. Even now I am all by myself while Lisa and Taylor get patched up and talk to Charlotte and Sierra. I was part of The Undersiders, but I wasn't _a_ Undersider. I felt more like hired help, only getting told what I needed to know.

Suddenly, I wondered if that is what they think as Brute and me as. I basically told Coil that I was for whoever needed help and Brute had labelled himself as a tool long before anyone else had. Grue certainly didn't seem to like me all that much either.

The more I thought about it the more it seemed like that is exactly how things were. And if I was going to change it, I would need to fix a few things.

First, I needed to become more connected to Skitter. It will mean I get to spend less time with Aisha, but I can't be loaning myself to Tattle whenever she wants. Next, I need to be more involved. It was great doing things just for the fun of it, but I need a more active role in these meeting and such. Maybe even ask for territory later. Finally, I need to build my own reputation. I was new on the scene, and they had a name and face to me thanks to me not caring all that much about a life I don't have anymore. But I haven't been in anything major since joining. That would have to change. Hopefully, this whole deal with The Slaughterhouse Nine would let me earn my stripes. But I needed more, and hopefully being the chick that recruits Queen of the Castle to the team would be an important thing.

I have been reading up on Queen while Taylor and Lisa got patched up. According to the Protectorate, Queen of the Castle is incredibly resourceful to the point of completing projects would take anyone else millions of dollars projects with just a few thousand. She can also build much faster than any other Tinkers with few exceptions, needing very little to almost no prep time.

Being a Tinker that specializes in siege weapons makes her incredibly dangerous everyone and everything. But she is also mentally unhinged, which would probably be the reason everyone, hero and villain alike, get nervous when she appears in their town. But there was a smaller detail that the Protectorate was trying to hide before they stole the data from their base. She had a history of screwing with Thinker powers, which is probably what cause Tattletale to freak out earlier for. But there isn't anything written down as _why_ she messes with those power. Maybe a Tinker device, but it doesn't fit with the siege weaponry.

I sighed. While this was really nice to know for when I saw Queen next, it didn't do me any good now. And I was still bored, only now I have told myself I can't go and help the other Undersiders. Maybe I could go and talk with Brute, he is good for conversation if you force him into it.

I was just about to get up a leave when the four of them, Lisa, Taylor, Charlotte, and Sierra, walked out of Coil's doctor little set up. Taylor looked at me for a moment before saying,

"I'm taking these two back to my territory for some food and rest if you wanted to come. Or you can do your own thing." I made face. I wanted to be more involved with the team, but would I still be acting like hired help if I went with her?

"I think I'll patrol the territory for a bit, get some practice in."

"Sounds good." She started walking away with the two girls in tow when Lisa approached me.

"Hey Riza," She greeted with a little wave and a smile, "Can you keep an eye on Taylor for me?" I raised an eyebrow.

"How come?"

"Cuz she's been acting strangely. She took those bullets like they were nothing and according to Senegal, she was moving through the crowd like an expert. I think there's something up."

"Hm, well, she has been reading a lot."

"Reading?"

"Yeah, like mountains of books every night. All based on combat and skills she might need." Lisa frowned.

"Well, keep an eye out for me, will ya? Thanks." Lisa had turned around and left before I even had a chance to answer. I stuck my tongue out at her and turned to leave myself. I had to get my stuff, there were some things I needed to test.

I had noticed that my hair had changed colour when I fought Queen. I was thinking that if I could manage that again I might be able to apply it more, maybe have my costume appear out of nowhere, or have my swords materialize out of thin air.

My power tended to more finicky when I tried to narrow it down to more specific things. Most of the time I exerted the force of my power to myself and everything within my area of influence. It made me and all of my allies more durable and stopped us from bleeding out. Firearms become less accurate the more my power begins to affect them, but blades become sharper and stronger the longer my power seeps into it.

I had started to think of everything as a spongy material that can soak up my power as I put it out, and that certain things had a threshold where they wouldn't change much more. Things like guns and other people tended to become as affected as they're going to get within ten or twenty minutes. I didn't have a threshold, or at least I haven't found it yet. The longer the fight carried on the more time I had to let my power change me, I was like Lung, I got stronger the longer the battle carried on.

It would be nice to know specifics about my power, but so many thing revolved around how long I let myself soak up my power. But that wasn't the only issue, as soon as I stopped using my power I get dead tired. The battle with Queen only last a few minutes, but I could tell I would fall asleep the moment I relaxed my power completely. So instead I focused it on my surroundings where no one would notice it. Then at night I'll just stop it all and pass out.

The effects on the world weren't as obvious as the effects on my body. Lines got straighter, walls became smoother, people moved a bit more fluidly, small things like that only someone really observant would notice. But right now I wanted people to notice me.

I let my power build up around me but forced the effects of it away. Like hold a bowl over a sponge and slowly filling that bowl with water. It wasn't perfect, the changes started to seep through; making my eyes wider and smoother, a certain energy I got that told me I could start running and jumping at unrealistic speeds. Small things like that begun to take hold as I stalked my targets.

A larger group of Merchants, living on the border between Grue's and Skitter's territory. I need a show of force, not just for the Undersiders. I needed the local groups, The Pure, The Chosen, and the Protectorate themselves, to know I'm here, that I'm a threat. I'd seen Skitter leverage that reputation a number of times and I know that the team itself thrives on the same kind of thing.

I had paid off a few people to stand by and record what was about to happen with cell phones and the like. When the Protectorate came through here that video will circulate for a bit, then in the next few days I might have a little something to leverage.

I closed my eyes and focus on a specific picture as I let all my power wash over me in its entirety. After a few moments when I felt the changes stop I opened my eye checked my hair. Pink.

The picture I had been focusing on was the image of an anime girl with pink hair pulled into curly pigtails, and my power copied it exactly. Or well, almost exactly. As ran my fingers through my new hair I found a pair of cat ears poking out of my head. And like that I found myself grinning like an idiot.

I dropped into the centre of the Merchants and immediately had an understanding of the area through my power. Twelve were around me outside the ruined house they were camping in, fifteen more inside surrounding a… Pillow fort? Interesting, but not why I'm here.

I unhooked my left bokken and slashed out in front of me, sending a visible wave of force arcing outward. It slammed into seven on them, sending them literally head over heels across the street. I turned to face the others and felt firearms in their hands.

I zig-zagged forward in a blur of movement, easily dodging the gunfire from pistols and one really rusty rifle. I didn't even want to know how they got those guns.

Three men stood shoulder, concentrating fire on me for however much good it will do them. I hit the rifle that was held in the man in the centre of the group, shattering it on contact with the bokken. Two more quick strikes and I broke the other two guns.

Two of them turned to run and I flashed out my bokken again, breaking one leg each for both of them. For the final one, I turned my bokken around and slammed the handle into his throat and he went sprawling on the ground.

I turned and saw most of the Merchants I knocked to the ground running away. Most drug fiends were like that, only sticking around for what they thought would be easy for them. Unfortunately, the others were still on said drugs and rushed me with wide-eyed, dilated, crazed stares.

I tripped the first one and elbowed him into the ground, the pavement cracking from the impact. The others went down similarly, except for the last one. She swayed towards me, probably on some hallucinogen rather than the stimulants though other guys were on. I flicked the wooden sword towards her and she went flying through the air, crashing into a building face. My power saved her from turning into a blood stain as I willed it to.

The others were coming out of the building, looking a lot less drugged up and a lot more smug. In the centre of them was a greasy looking man in a crude costume made of scraps of clothing and metal. He stood about six feet tall and held a massive chainsaw in his hands. I slid the bokken back onto my hip and rested my hand on katana below it.

"Ah, nice to see a pretty face I can tear apart," the greasy Marchant cape said through yellow teeth. I felt my power swell as he spoke. I began to grin.

"Aw, but my face is my best feature." I could see his eyes behind his mask glance downward.

"Well, I wouldn't disagree with that."

"Nice of you to say? And before we get to the killing each other, can I have your name?" With every word I felt my power build up, a classic staple of anime; extending fights with dialogue. It wouldn't help me with an Endbringer but capes tended to lean toward the dramatic, one more tool for the arsenal.

"Yours first, cat girl."

"Tsundere, newest member of The Undersiders."

"Snapper, veteran of the Merchants."

"Good to hear, I don't suppose you'll team me your power while we're at it."

"No."

"Ah," I sighed, "What a shame." He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off as I unsheathed my katana, slashing it outward in a wide arc. I didn't want to kill anyone if I could avoid it, brings hell on me and The Undersiders alike. My power did its best to accommodate that want, but bokken smashed, cracked, shattered, and otherwise broke things. Katana's cut, sliced, separated, and sheared through things.

A trail of fire traced the path my blade took as I unsheathed it and the force blade took a red tint as it flew forward. It cut through the chainsaw Snapper was holding and bit into his chest, knocking him backwards. The non-capes surrounding him took much deeper cuts and feel to the ground. I immediately extended my power over them all to keep them from bleeding out. Snapper tried to stand back up, but before he could move another inch he had two shurikens embedded into his shoulders.

I was aware a flying cape entering my sphere of influence from above. I turned and saw Glory Girl floating downwards behind me. I sheath my sword and put my hands up.

"They're all yours," Glory Girl frowned.

"You know I can't just let you leave right?"

"Who says you can stop me?" At that moment someone fast had entered my range and punched Glory Girl hard in the face, launching her into a building her where she then collapsed to the ground.

"Brute, good timing." Brute greeted me with a nodded then looked at Glory Girl.

"She is strong, very durable. Should not have defeated her so easily. She is faking, yaes? But then why did I steal some of her power?" I smiled at him.

"Her invulnerability goes down for a few seconds after she takes a big hit, and you kind of hit her into a wall before it could come back."

"Hm, thought hero capes were supposed to be tough. Wait, vhy do you have ear of cat?"

"Oh, you know, just kind of felt like it." Brute shook his head.

"Skeeter sent to bring you back. Slaughterhouse Nine is doing something, yaes. Bad for team, bad for city." He made the word 'slaughter' sound particularly gruesome.

"Yeah, just a sec though. I have to check this out." I strode into the building the Merchant people had been in and walked up to the pillow fort. It was more like a pillow bunker, with no ways in or out. I could sense two people inside with some food rations that looked like barely enough for a day's worth of eating. One of the people was tall, skinny. Mostly likely a guy. The other was very short and I got the general since she was a little girl. Father and daughter? Brother and sister? And why were they in a pillow bunker, and why did it interest the Merchants?

Slowly I pulled out a katana and attempted to cut the pillow bunker down, only for my katana to bounce off harmlessly. I looked over my shoulder at Brute and he seemed to know what I was thinking. I stepped out of the way to let him move in to grab a handful of pillows.

The pillow bunker came down a second later, leaving the two people inside standing stock still, staring wide-eyed at us. The man, about seventeen or eighteen by my guess, wore a blue spandex suit with a red cap and mask. The little girl didn't wear a costume but…

"Oh my god!" I shrieked, getting strange looks from everyone. "She is just too cute! Eek!" I don't know why I said 'eek' instead of making the sound but damn was that girl cute! She had snow white hair and pink eyes against incredibly pale skin and her whole face was just… fucking adorable. If my power changed other people the way it changed me, I was ten thousand percent sure I could turn her from person to chibi in two seconds flat!

"I want one! I want ten oh my god! It's too much! Too much cuteness!"

"Why are you touching my sister like that." I couldn't stop myself, I was rubbing her adorable little head before I knew it and she had this adorable little wobble and an adorable cute look of confusion in her eyes and-

"She is just too cute!" I said defensively. The cape guy sighed.

"Yeah, I know."

"Vhat are you doing here?" Brute asked, trying to get back on track with a conversation that made sense. But I didn't need him, I contented myself with cuddling that adorable girl's head until she told me to stop. Which she didn't, and for that I am glad.

"The Merchants were chasing us and we thought we could hole up in here for the night. But they found us and we had been stuck in fort every day since." Brute nodded.

"I see, yaes. And vhat is with the pillows?" The guy suddenly straightened and puffed his chest out a bit.

"That would be my amazing power. The awesome strength of PillowMan!" We paused for a moment.

"PillowMan?" I asked.

"It's a great name," Pillowman said a little too quickly. "Look." He held out a hand and in a little flash of white light a pillow appeared in the air and flew toward Brute. Brute caught it without issue.

That had to be the most disappointing power out of all the universes.

"Trying damaging it." Pillowman said confidently. Brute looked at him, then at me, then back at him. He turned the pillow over in his hands and began to pull on it, but despite what was probably Brute's full strength the pillow didn't break.

"This is stupid power." Brute said, a little put out from the fact the pillow was in perfect condition.

"You're just saying that because you can't summon indestructible yet surprisingly soft pillows at whim." PillowMan crossed his arms and actually stuck his nose in the air in indignation.

"Oh my god, he is adorable too!" I shouted, grabbing PillowMan in a headlock and pulling him and his sister close while PillowMan sputtered.

"Can I keep them?" I asked Brute with a pouty face. "Please, I want them so bad. Look at their adorable little faces. Their half starved, ragged, in need of shower, adorable faces." Brute looked at me flatly.

"You vould have to feed and water them regularly, yaes, and make sure the get plenty of exercise." Brute lifted a pillow. "And you vill have to clean mess they make."

"I can do it, I promise." Brute nodded.

"Take them back to lair and met me at Bitch's territory, ve have the Slaughterhouse Nine to deal with." Brute turned and leapt to the top of the nearest building and disappearing from sight. PillowMan tried turning around in my death grip to look at me.

"I'm confused," he said, "Did we just become your slaves or your pets?" I squeezed the adorable two closer to me. It would have been this awesome collective of cuteness if Pillowman didn't start bleeding out his nose when I accidentally hug him into my boobs.

But maybe that was cuter, I don't know.

Then I saw it. Brute saw it, PillowMan and his sister saw it, every last person in the city saw it. It announced his arrival, the man that everyone knew, the man almost more feared than an Endbringer. Quite possibly the only man capable of upstaging the Slaughterhouse Nine. The man entire nations have attempted to stop before and failed. The man that can cause a truce between villain and hero with his mere presence.

I the bottom left-hand corner of my vision, a message appeared, the same message everyone else in the city got.

 **Troll has committed suicide.**


	10. Traction

Skitter watched passively as Squealer and Black Tar pulled up in their massive yacht sized cruiser ship and immediately started to pick a fight with Faultline. Understandable, her crew was seen at the crashed party, and they couldn't really take their anger out on Queen of the Castle.

Bugs told her the inner workings of the ship, laying out all the weapons and corridors inside of it. It wasn't any better on the inside than it was the outside, slanted, thrown together, looking like it might fall apart. The information had the on guns let her start dismantling and jamming the weapons discreetly as the conversation went on around them.

Skitter's second mind was focused on thinking about the two people Tsundere had brought back with her yesterday. PillowMan and his sister, Anna. Both of them were capes, but each of them kind of useless. PillowMan obviously summoned pillows that were almost indestructible didn't get dirty or wet. And, as Taylor found out last night, every side of the pillow is the cool side of the pillow.

His sister Anna, on the other hand, could tell if were about to die, but usually only a few hours before it happens. Like Dinah, she could see the chances but instead of percentages she saw it as fractions. Skitter would have dismissed their powers as completely useless until Tenant pointed out that the pillows might be able to stop Siberian. But even then it was unlikely that would become a viable option.

She turned her second mind to the conversation at hand and her general surroundings as her primary mind worked with Tenant to pick apart and understand Squealer's ship. Every now and then she picked up a little bit more technology information and stored it away, very much aware that Tenant was not only making her a Thinker but also a Tinker.

Brute was smoking a cigar while he stood next to Skitter, waiting for instruction or otherwise. He was probably the most valuable person she had working for her, even though she still didn't quite understand his mentality that made him offer himself to people. He not only dealt with almost all threats very easily, he was managing all the hired muscle as well while she dealt with the reconstruction side of things.

But in terms of this meeting he might as well be another Siberian. He is strong, fast, and now that he stole a bit of Glory Girl's invincibility, incredibly difficult to injure. No one has seen him lose a fight or get hurt since the first few times he had appeared on the cape scene. She knew that now was because he hadn't beaten a lot of heroes at that time, but the others didn't know that. It made him a tool in the political sense as well.

Tsundere was pulling on a pair of dark purple gloves that went up to her elbow and matched her kimono. She had more reputation than she realized, simply by helping everyone of The Undersiders and even Sundancer at one point secure their territory. Her power gave her incredible offensive and defensive strength, and allowed her to use lethal force without actually killing them. Skitter had been silently observing all the applications Tsundere had discovered thus far. She has learned something new each fight, and appears to be able to change her face and hair colour easily as well. Today she had black hair with large teal eyes that reflected the moonlight.

Skitter's first mind was working on what task when Miss Militia stepped onto the building top they were meeting at. It was barely sticking up out of the water and provided them neutral ground to talk with each other.

Skitter observed everyone. Miss Militia to represent the Protectorate. Coil, by himself. Purity with Crusader, Fog, and Night. Black Tar, the new leader of the Merchants with Squealer and the ship full of Merchants and disabled guns behind him. All of the Travelers, with Genesis in some sort of turtle snake form. Faultline's Crew, standing passively off to the side. Which, besides The Undersiders, left Hookwolf and his Chosen.

Hookwolf had been casting glances in Skitter's direction, combined with a smug look and the confident way he held himself it wasn't hard to tell what he was up to.

'He knows.' Skitter thought.

"Yes," Tenant agreed. "And he is probably going to try and turn this entire meeting against you if you let him."

'Suggestions?'

"Turn it against him. You're not stupid, and he is a smug idiot white supremacist douchebag. It shouldn't be that hard." Skitter suddenly noticed Tattletale staring at her.

"It seems we have a problem," Miss Militia said as she approached the teams.

"We do," Hookwolf answered, "Four problems actually." The rest of them nodded.

"Four?" Purity asked. "I only counted three."

"It those." Hookwolf point over at The Undersiders, and then the Travelers. "They think their smart, clever even. But I think it's better that we get it out in the open, you too Coil, Miss Militia."

"Perhaps you'd better explain," Coil said.

"They have been taken territory all over the city. Upper downtown, The Boardwalk, College Neighbourhoods, Trainyard, The Docks." Hookwolf turned to address the Travelers. "They ain't much better. Got Sundancer in the shopping district, Genesis in the downtown coast, Trickster driving looters out of the heart of downtown. See the pattern? They're all moving to take pieces of the city for themselves."

"We already knew they were talking territory," Miss Militia responded, "This isn't a priority. The Nine-"

"They haven't taken territory," Hookwolf snapped back, "They're taking the _city_. Split it up all nice and proper between them, and now they're taking advantage of the distraction the Nine are giving them to secure their positions before we fucking catch on."

Grue and Trickster looked at each other for a moment, sharing in some unspoken agreement.

"We didn't know about the Nine before we started this."

"So Hookwolf is right," Purity said bluntly, a bit of her surprise appearing on her face. Grue nodded silently.

"This isn't a concern for us," Miss Militia said sternly, "We are here for the other three problems. Dealing with the Slaughterhouse Nine, moving against Queen of the Castle, and resisting Troll until he gets bored and leaves." More notifications announcing more of Troll's deaths have popped up in the last twenty-four hours. From getting run over to getting electrocuted by Squealer.

The issue with Troll wasn't that he was dangerous by himself. He didn't have any more ability than any other person. The difficulty with Troll was that there was no way to stop him despite that. Every time he dies he 'respawns' a block or so away and just comes back over and over again until he gets what he wants. And when what he wants is to screw with people, things tended to end badly with him around.

"That might help for the next week or two, but from a month from now you'll be regretting it." Hookwolf told her. "What we need is to stop them from using the Nine as a distraction to gain more control."

"That is _not_ our intent." Trickster said quickly.

"Then agree to the truce and stay away from your territories or in a hotel on the Protectorates tab until this is all sorted. You won't hold territory until the Nine are dealt with."

"You're attempting to turn this meeting against us." Skitter suddenly said, drawing looks from the other in her group. "You want to set things up so would have to agree to terms we would never agree to or be forced out of this alliance." Hookwolf frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but Skitter cut him off. "Whether you want us out of this truce out of spite or because it would give you the advantage in the future it doesn't matter, you want us on this truce." Hookwolf's eye narrowed at them.

"You're all full of yourselfs. There is no way we can fight the Nine if we have to worry about you trying to extend your influence." It was Tsundere that spoke next.

"Brute?" Brute took the cigar out of his mouth and looked at Tsundere.

"How many punches to kill Jack Slash?" Brute paused for a moment, the answered with,

"One punch."

"And what about Bonesaw?"

"One punch."

"Shatterbird?"

"One punch."

"Mannequin?"

"One punch."

"Crawler?"

"Eh, at least two, yaes."

"And what about Hookwolf here." Hookwolf tensed as Brute cast a fleeting glance in his direction.

"Please, I could sneeze in his direction and he would fall into pile of metal toothpicks." Grue looked over and realized what happening and took our lead by saying,

"We have power you can't ignore, nor go without if you want to fight the Nine. And if you insist on excommunicating us, then we will have to extend our own truce to The Protectorate and others willing to participate."

"I'm inclined to agree." Coil said with a nod. "And perhaps now is the opportune time to share this information; I have sources that inform my that should Jack Slash survive his trip to Brockton Bay it bodes ill for everyone."

The conversation turned away from them for a moment as Coil shared the fact that the world might end in two years. Skitter took the moment to pull her bugs out of Squealer's contraption and to observe everyone's reaction. Coil was on board and Miss Militia seemed willing to come to a deal with them. Hookwolf looked profusely agitated, while the others look angry. They didn't like getting played as fools, but they knew what the Undersiders and Travelers brought to the table between Brute, Tsundere, and their general collective power. If they could get Miss Militia to value their strength over Hookwolf's Chosen then more might follow her because of the Protectorate's resources.

"-for this to happen," Hookwolf cut in, turning Skitter's attention back to the Travelers and the Undersiders must agree to our terms." A few of the nodded, Faultline, Coil, and Miss Militia excepted. Coil was about to say something where they heard a massive horn, something like one might hear from a large cargo ship.

They turned just as the ship appeared in their line of sight. It was a full-scale battleship, large enough to make Squealer's cruiser look like a toy next to it. Obvious Tinker guns were mounted all along the sides, on the decks, and the control tower. The barrels for the weapons were large enough that any one of them could have crawled inside of it and fit comfortably. Some of them looked like energy weapons, pointing into the sky.

The moment the horn finished going off everything fell into an eerie silence as it slowly drifted the last few dozen feet without making another sound. Purity grew bright as she activated her power and others prepared for a fight but Hookwolf and Grue waved them down.

"If you provoke that thing we're all dead," Hookwolf growled. The others heard and didn't attack, but none of them backed down. The ship jerked to a dead stop just inches away from the building. It became very apparent that whoever was driving the ship could have run them all over without a second thought and there probably wouldn't have been a thing they could have done about it.

A figure appeared above them, leaping off the front of the ship and falling towards them before wings on her suit opened up and Queen of the Castle landed gently in the centre of everyone.

"Why is everyone here?" She asked, her head tilting slightly. "Is it a party? I like parties."

"Queen of the Castle," Miss Militia said cautiously, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh!" Queen said, her eyes lighting up and pointing a Tsundere. " _She_ invited me! Saying it would be fun!" All eyes fell on Tsundere. Her mouth fell open a bit and a large cartoonish teardrop appeared on her head for a second before disappearing. The effects were immediate, Skitter knew in an instant that everyone except maybe Hookwolf was going to be completly okay with their inclusion. Queen of the Castle is one person you do not want to have against you.

"Hey, Queen." Tsundere said slowly. "We were just discussing how to take down the Slaughterhouse Nine and-"

"Oh wow! Those are like really bad people." Tsundere smiled at her.

"Yeah, so bad in fact, that everyone in the city, heros, villains, us, are going to not fight each other at all while we fight them." Queen's grin widened.

"So I could use whatever to kill them and no one is going to chase me for it?" Tsundere looked to Miss Militia, who hesitated before nodding.

"So long as you stick with us, then sure."

"Yay!" Queen pumped a fist into the air, the jets on her flight suit lifting her a few feet higher into the air as she did. Skitter turned to look at Hookwolf.

"Would you like to join our truce?" She asked.


	11. Picking Up The Pace

After strategy was discussed, Queen invited me onto her giant battleship. I could have gone with the others to finalize our plans, but I think there was only one correct choice here. Skitter sent Brute with me just in case.

The ship itself was just as impressive on board as it was to look at. The _Spire_ was a flawless combination of aircraft carrier and battleship, packing enough firepower that this ship alone could probably devastate every building and person standing on the edges of the Leviathan made lake. Not to mention several dozen helicopters and fighter jets that were waiting to pilot on top of it.

"How does any of this count as siege weaponry?" I found myself wondering out loud. Queen smiled and twirled completely around, taking in everything on her marvellous ship.

"Because people a great at killing each other." She said in a sing-song voice. I gave her an odd look.

"How do you mean?" Queen rolled her eyes.

"First people make tall walls to keep others out, and others don't like staying out so they build catapults and trebuchets and siege towers to go over the wall. People then make thicker walls to fight the catapults, and others make cannons to fight the thick walls, then they start blocking their ports with wooden ships. The others make thicker and shorter walls to stop the cannons and people make bigger artillery. Others make the walls so short, wall get negative tall and become trenches. So people put their artillery on cars, making other come up with armour piercing bullets. Then people put more armour on their artillery cars and call them tanks. Others make anti-tank rifles and bazookas and their own tanks. People make more tanks and start using planes and submarines. Then others make bunkers and dig their trenches for miles and lay mines. People make anti-bunker missiles and chlorine gas and mine sweepers. And the cycle goes on and on!" Queen rolled her eyes a bit at the end but grinned again. "The age of castles and walls and moats didn't go away, they just got so short the went underground!" I looked at Brute who looked back at me blankly. I turned back towards Queens and asked,

"So every weapon is a siege weapon?"

"What? Pfft, no! Just the really big ones!" Before I got the chance to ask what she defined as 'big', she took as on a tour of the top deck. She showed us every gun she had, and she had a lot of guns. Cannons, missiles, anti-aircraft, torpedoes, naval mines, mortars, flame throwers, machine guns, grenade machine guns, railguns, magnetic repulsion trebuchets, deployable U-boats, and all the helicopters and planes. And for each gun there was usually a laser, sonic, and/or pure energy forms of the weapons. Which just left one question.

"How the hell did you get this on the lake without anyone noticing?" Queen rolled her eyes.

"Well, _obviously_ I did it while you guys weren't looking."

"And how long did all this take?" Brute asked. Queen waved dismissively.

"A few weeks or so, but I spent about a week of that getting all the metal together." Again Brute and I looked at each other, completely baffled.

"Queen…" I began but faltered as I became unsure how to ask.

"Yes?"

"What are you going to use this for? There aren't any people to man the bridge or pilot the aircraft or anything."

"Oh, I can do that all myself."

"Okay, but what is the purpose?" Queen frowned for what I was think was the first time since I'd started talking to her.

"I don't know. Fun I guess, but I can't stop building."

"You can't stop." Queen shook her head.

"Ever since I got my power I could never stop building or fighting. I must keep moving, I must keep making more, like siege weaponry." I paused as a thought hit me. Could Queen's mind be like it is because she makes siege weaponry? Like how in times of war the pressure was on to build more and more weapons until the war ended. Or was she like me, just trying to focus on other things to avoid facing something specific? I might have pressed her for more information, but my phone buzzed. I fished it out from the sash around my kimono. A text from Skitter.

'Come fast. The Nine, cloud of bugs. Approach cautiously.' I looked at Brute, and he looked at me grimly from behind the mask. He had it too.

"Queen," I spoke suddenly. "We have a hit on the Nine's location, watch where we go from the ship and keep the guns trained on our position. Look for a cloud of bugs if you lose us, but be ready to open fire if things go badly."

"Okaaay!" Queen gave a cheerfully salute and began to skip towards the command tower. I grabbed Brute's arm as he offered it to me a nodded. A second later he kicked off the boat deck and we went sailing through the air. The force of his jump enough to make the boat rock.

When we got there it was too late. Tattletale was laying on the ground, bleeding everywhere while Skitter attended to her. Giving her expert care as Jack Slash talked to the group.

"...With this in mind, you would be well advised to stay away from anything made of glass or any beaches, and be sure to put away anything in your pockets with a screen." I saw Skitter's movements slow as he said it, but she didn't stop. Tattletale was reaching down for her pouch of pens. Did she need to write a note? A message to the others? But she wouldn't have enough time, not else someone gave her some.

I suddenly remembered something Taylor had told me about Jack a while back. He was an artist, and he took pride in his work. Then maybe something artful like that could distract him, some kind of gesture or otherwise. I could-

"It looks like she has finally come up with a plan." Cherish said. Was it just me, or did she seem a little off put? Did something happen before this I was unaware of, and more importantly, could I press that to my advantage? But they knew I was here, so there was no point in delaying.

I took my first steps out, with Brute behind me. My plan still a bit of a work in progress. Jack waved a knife at me with a thin smile.

"I wouldn't try anything," he said easily, smoothly. "It wouldn't be that hard to kill you and the rest of these here."

"Oh, but what if I said you would like what I am going to try?" Jack raised an eyebrow. I met it with my own smile, I wasn't about to let a precarious situation stop me from being effective. I am good at ignoring things like that.

Slowly and deliberately, I pulled off my glove on my right hand. I threw it on the ground in front of him and said, "1v1 me, bro."

Jack blinked for a moment, as if processing what just happened. But then he cracked a smile.

"A olden tradition for challenging one to a duel and pedestrian talk. Interesting. Annoying, but interesting." I grinned and pulled out a katana, slowly so they wouldn't have a reason to attack me.

"Then you know that you can accept my challenge, or be completely dishonoured and all."

"Really going all in on the Japanese thing aren't you." I shrugged.

"It's kind of my thing." Jack grinned and twirled his knife in his fingers.

"What are your terms?"

"A fight to the death, but we stop when Shatterbird does her thing. And clearly, neither on of our friends help." I had to guess on the Shatterbird bit, he was saying something about putting away things with a screen so I kind of assumed.

"Alright, I can agree to that, but only if you met one more stipulation should I win."

"What's that?"

"If I kill you, Brute must leave the city until we are gone." I glanced back at Brute, who was getting instructions for Skitter. Everyone else was frozen, watching me practically commit suicide. Fair enough I suppose, I didn't really have much hope for beating Jack but if I could keep the fight going long enough then maybe I had a chance of not dying.

"We can do that." Jack paused and silently examined his knife blade.

"Good." I barely knocked the extended blade away from my face, getting a lock of my hair cut off in the process.


	12. Pressing on the Pedal

"The game should buy you time." Tenant told her as Skitter ran through the streets.

"Not now, Tenant." She growled at him, not even noticing she said it out loud.

"Why a not? Between me and you, the bugs are alerting everyone possible in the area we cover. A five block radius around us, using the swarm speak and other tools to tell hundreds of people to take cover. So why not have a little chat about our strategies on taking on the Nine?"

"Because I'm focusing."

"But you don't need to. You know as well as I do that your second mind is more than capable of taking you all the way to your father's house while we have a chat and manage your bugs. So the real reason you don't want to talk is because you're too busy worrying about your father." Tenant paused as if to see if she would agree. The clanging of metal as Tsundere and Jack fought was sounding off in the distance. They were just leaving her range, but through Tenant she could watch them through her bugs. Tsundere was on the defensive as Jack attacked her with quick, measured strokes. Every now and then they would say something to each other, but it was too garbled in background noise.

"It is so humanly stupid," Tenant continued, "To be worrying about something when you are already doing everything you can to fix it. You need to focus on the here and now, because even though we gave Bonesaw the game proposal, the Slaughterhouse Nine are not playing. And the truce hinges on us being able to make a strong first strike." Skitter ground to a halt in the middle of the street.

"I'm not going to be fast enough," she murmured, blood pounding in her ears. Tenant frowned seriously.

"I can make you faster." He said slowly. "But you know what you have to do." Skitter nodded and closed her eyes.

"Do it." Tenant hesitated, then started to work.

For a few fleeting moments she felt her heart stop. She couldn't remember how to take in a breath, even blinking was impossible. She tried to move but found that she had forgotten how. There was a rising panic in her chest and she started to sway on her feet. How she stayed standing she didn't know.

Then everything came back to her at once and she gasped for breath, finding the action both easier and more distant from her. Instantaneously she was perfectly healthy again, but she felt out of her body. She could move her arms and legs, but she didn't feel her weight on them. She was numb.

"Triggering adrenalin rush in three, two, one-" Skitter did feel that when it triggered and broke into a sprint immediately, running as hard as she could in the direction of her dad's house. She couldn't feel the strain on her body as she poured every last bit of effort she could muster into running. Her breathing was hard and her heart was beating so fast it felt like it would burst out her chest. Even then those feeling were distant from her, just enough for her to be aware but not enough for her to care.

"I'm about to take it up a notch." Tenant said.

'What does that mean?'

"You know how it only takes the same amount of pressure as biting through a carrot to bite through your pinkie finger? Well, your body stops you from doing that, and it does a lot of things on that scale. Including keeping your muscles from exerting themselves so much that they would actually do damage to you. Well, I'm about to give the okay for your legs to work so hard that things might start to break." Skitter nodded once and was suddenly hit with a burst of speed.

It was exhilarating, her legs moved so fast they were barely touching the grounded as she kicked up water and dirt in her wake. She could hear the wind roaring in her ears as she moved. Her legs were burning, but Tenant was stopping most of the pain as she sailed along.

She was at her father's house with almost three minutes to spare. Tenant began helping her second mind warn him and tell him to get to cover. While he did that she turned her attention upward, where her Tenant enhanced eyesight allowed her to see Shatterbird in the distance.

Her kaleidoscope of glass shards carried her high into the sky where she held out her arms and began to emit a high-pitched note that quickly exceeded the range of human hearing and then kept going. Skitter was about to get on the ground to curl up when a blast of bright blue light cut through the air and struck Shatterbird.

All at once her sound stopped and all the glass that had been carrying her flew away from her and she went careening towards the ground. A Tinker made fighter jet appeared out of nowhere and began to fire more balls of blue light at the falling Shatterbird.

The more she tried to slow her fall the closer the shots from the jet were getting, and it had its nose tilted to hit her if she didn't get out of the way. Shatterbird apparently thought it better to fall and stopped trying to catch herself. She was probably setting something up on the ground to catch her when the jet did a dive and deployed missiles where she was falling. Shatterbird disappeared into the ball of fire a second later.

The jet pulled out of the dive and did a backflip until it was upside down and parallel to the ground. Another barrel roll to straighten itself out and then it turned toward Skitter. The propulsion on the jet flared to life and it was over her head in a matter of seconds, all the way from one end of the city to the other in just a couple of seconds.

A figure climbed out of the jet and began to drop down from the air as the jet turned and made its way back in the direction of the lake.

Brute landed hard on the ground next to her, the impact making the rubble on the street jump a little. He held out a small blue device.

"Crazy Tinker girl says press once for noise cancel, twice for distress signal, three time for small explosive on ten second timer, and four times to rest to first option." Skitter took the button and looked back a where she came.

"Do you know how Tsundere is holding up?"

"She was moving too fast to tell when ve went past her, but I think there vas no blood on ground." Skitter nodded. That probably meant that she survived her duel with Jack when Shatterbird failed to hit the city.

"They're going to retaliate." Tenant dryly. "Probably start killing people in your territory that you would've saved if Shatterbird didn't fail." Skitter silently agreed with him.

"Brute, take me to my lair, fast." Brute grunted and held out his arm which she took, and then they were off.

The area was on fire by the time they got there. People were ducking into buildings, trying to get out of the way as Burnscar tried to light things on fire. However, every time she raised her hands to start generating fire she was assaulted with flying pillows.

Pillowman was running around the area, dodging balls of fire he couldn't smother with pillows. Anna, now wearing a white mask that matched her hair, rode on his back. Her arms wound tightly around his neck and her legs hanging his torso.

She whispered something in his ear and Pillowman changed directions on a dime and turned to pelt a woman that was running for cover in white pillows a second before a wave of flame washed over her.

"Brute, occupy her as best you can." Skitter said.

"Lethal force?"

"Yes." Brute nodded with a grunt and leapt forward, nearly catching her with one of his fists before she teleported away into a nearby flame. Skitter caught PillowMan's attention and motioned him toward her before ducking into an alleyway to be out of sight in case Burnscar attempted to torch her.

PillowMan scrambled into an alley clumsily and Anna immediately fell off his back onto a small pile of pillows that broke her fall.

"What has been happening?"

"Anna told me there was a four-fifths chance a bunch of people died here in the next twenty minute a little bit ago. Then this crazy fire lady showed up and started trying to burn the place." PillowMan glanced down at his sister for a moment. "Anna tells me when people are likely to die and I try to save them, but the crazy lady keeps trying to build up this massive fire that I have to smother with my power before it gets too large. And Anna is worn out from using her power all they time." Anna was staring unblinkingly upwards while murmuring this string of numbers under her breath.

"Take her inside the lair," Skitter told him. "Then come back and keep putting the fires out and distracting her. I'll handle evacuating my people."

"Alright." PillowMan said with a nod before turning around and picking up his kid sister. He darted for the third entrance to the lair Skitter had built; a small cellar door inside a collapsed building that leads to the same network of pipes that lead into her lair.

Skitter edged around the area extrapolated the data her second mind had been collecting with her bugs. At least two hundred people that would be endangered if Burnscar managed to get a large enough fire going. Tenant immediately grasped her intent and helped her create hundreds of arrows and warnings all over the area, directing them out of Burnscar's range and to safety.

"There could be other members of the Nine, here." Tenant told her. "You should do a more thorough sweep." Skitter nodded and created a dense circle of bugs, something no one would be able to move out of the way off and began expanding it over an area.

She felt pillows scattered across the ground everywhere. Even her smallest of bugs couldn't get into the fabric of the pillows. PillowMan was back on the field, assaulting fire with his never ending stream of pillows.

Skitter got the feeling she wasn't going to get used to seeing hundreds of indestructible pillows on the battlefield.

There was an area where people were lying on the ground at odd angles. Skitter had the bugs inspect them closer and froze. Dead, cut open like fish, some of them even strung from the ceiling.

Skitter tapped into her bugs' eyesight and began surveying the location. An abandoned factory, some people had been sleeping inside of it but other were going inside to escape the flames. They made it a few feet inside until something moved and killed them and began moving them out of the way for the next unlucky person to enter the building.

Mannequin.

Skitter ran full sprint into the building, ignoring Burnscar releasing a wall of flame towards here as she felt PillowMan moving to stop it. Skitter reached down and grabbed a pillow off the ground and jumped forward through the door, twisting her body so she faced the ceiling with the pillow held in front of her.

Mannequin's blade bounced harmlessly off the pillow as he descended from the ceiling, but the force knocked Skitter into the ground and sent her rolling across the floor. She recovered almost instantly by rolling onto her feet, only to see Mannequin charging her.

Skitter drew her second mind into her first and felt Tenant pushing all the information they had on martial arts towards the forefront of her mind. As her two minds became one she gained an intuitive sense of the building they were in so she didn't need to spare bugs to map the walls and floors, just the people. Her increased senses let her hear a faint humming coming from Mannequin's chest. With all this new information in mind, she drew out her knife in her left hand and her telescoping baton in the other.

Mannequin swung his arm and blade too far to actually hit if his arm didn't extend on its chain. Skitter closed the distance and held her baton up to catch the chain instead of the limb. The arm pivoted on her baton and began to swing back towards Mannequin just before Skitter stabbed her knife into one of the chain links and pulled Mannequin forward. She felt the muscles in her arms burning as Tenant let her tap into their unnatural power.

Mannequin went stumbling forward but recovered too quickly. His other arm lashed out a glanced off one of her armour platings. She danced backwards and held her baton and knife at the ready. Mannequin tilted his head at her and slid more blades out of his body.

'Brute?' Skitter asked. Tenant shook his head.

"Then Burnscar torches your territory. And god forbid anyone touches your people."

'Pillow?'

"Busy with much the same, and even with those pillows this guy would cut him up like nobody's business."

'Queen's device?'

"Calling for her help might mean she will level the building. But maybe the explosive your work for something. Other than that you're on your own." Skitter nodded and started laying lines of silk.

Mannequin launched his left arm at her. It sailed over her shoulder and struck the wall behind her. But before she could do anything, Mannequin began spinning like a top, becoming a torrent of bladed death. Skitter grabbed her baton in both hands and slammed it one of his arms, sending it flying into the other on and the two chains getting tangled.

Skitter start pouring thousands of bugs into the gears and gaps of his armour as Mannequin attempted to pull himself back together. She charged straight at him before she realized that the bugs weren't accomplishing anything on their own. Mannequin suddenly pulled his arms free as if they weren't tangled to begin with and a blade struck her in the head.

Skitter went flying across the ground and hit a wall on the other side of the room. Mannequin began approaching slowly, as if to taunt her. Skitter grabbed her baton and raised it, only to have Mannequin slam it out of her hand by using his arm like a whip. She wisely didn't raise her knife to give him the same opportunity.

'Tenant, freeze it.' Tenant didn't respond, and instead shut everything down. She felt her second mind disappear entirely and all her senses when back to the dull normal. She felt like she was suddenly shoved back into her body as she resumed control of her heartbeat and breathing. Pain flooded her senses and made her tear up. Her arms, legs, shoulders, and her back was screaming in agony. She had burns on the back of her legs she hadn't noticed before and her head was almost certainly bruised and maybe concussed.

And then time stopped and all the pain faded again. Skitter tried to move before she remembered that her body was still moving at normal time, her mind was just understanding it faster.

"I'm going to speed it up slightly so I have some brain power to work with." Tenant's voice said. His body had disappeared as he activated the time stop, like it normally does when he is pushing himself to his limits. Skitter mentally agreed with him and watched as Mannequin's movements went from a dead stop to just an incredibly slow, like he was trying to move through jello.

"So do you have any ideas?" Skitter asked, her voice strangely disembodied from herself. Tenant observed Mannequin studiously. Tenant popped back into existent near her and turned to face their attacker.

"Oh, a few. But I can see you have some of your own which aren't half bad. So nice to have a host with some actual competence. Not a lot, but more than most which is good. Anyway, your silk is almost done being drawn and you can start using the first bits the moment we get out. Split your minds and let your secondary one control the bugs and silk for you, use your primary mind to fight Mannequin." Skitter mentally nodded.

"He adapts fast." She observed,

"So adapted faster. He has been keeping you at arm's length, so get in close. I'll release as many muscle restrictions as I can without permanently harming you and you should be able to get the drop on him with your speed."

"He uses closed systems, if I can pierce one area he will probably lose it because of bacteria he would be exposed to." Tenant nodded and drifted over to Mannequin. He began touching areas on him.

"These are the weakest points in his head, chest, arms and legs. With the strength boost, you should be able to stab through them with your knife."

"There probably isn't anything in his head. Likely just something to through other people off." Tenant nodded in agreement.

"Are you ready for this?" Skitter nodded seriously. Tenant shrugged and crackled his knuckles. "Alright, real time in three, two, one-"

The was a second when Skitter was feeling all the effects Tenant imposes without him to meditate all the actions in between. All the information she had memorized, all the pain, all the hormones Tenant had been managing, all the information the bugs were picking up through their eyes and ears. All of it assaulting her at once for not even a second, and then Tenant was back at the helm, managing it all to make it all one constant stream of useable information and power.

Skitter was hit with the odd realization that she and Tenant were two of probably only a handful of people alive capable of multitasking on this scale. But together, their abilities combined and multiplied, there probably wasn't anyone capable of thinking as fast or about as many things except very, _very_ extraordinary Thinker powers.

Mannequin had only taken one step forward in the time Skitter and Tenant had done all of this. And then Skitter was behind him before any human mind could process she had moved.

She stabbed at the back of his chest with a knife, but he managed to move just enough that it glanced off his side harmlessly. Skitter ducked under his backswing and jammed her knife where a normal person would have had an armpit, damaging the joint heavily before she darted backwards to avoid his counterattack.

Skitter's hand closed around a thin cord of silk as she stopped backpedalling away from him. Mannequin didn't stop for a moment before launching his arm full force at her. On que, Skitter jumped high into the air, tugging on the cord hard. The pillow the cord was attached to flew into sight and collided with his bladed hand.

A second later Skitter was winding the cord around Mannequin's arm and tying it to a metal pole sticking out of the ceiling. He brought out another knife and began to cut the cord off immediately, but in that moment her swarm made a pass over him. Jamming every joint with hundreds of threads of silk.

Skitter darted forward, her knife held out to her side. Mannequin moved to block her, but the silk jammed in his joints and the new one wound around his arm and attached to other object stopped him from moving fast enough. She jabbed the knife deep into his chest and shoved downward.

A blade caught her in the chest and sent her flying backwards. Mannequin stumbled forward, black gunk the consistency of tar oozed from the hole in his chest. Mannequin was injured, probably deathly ill in a few seconds, but more than anything else he was angry.

Skitter leapt to her feet and gave another strategically placed cord a good pull. A pillow struck Mannequin from behind, distracting him just long enough for Skitter to plunge the knife in the location where his neck meet his body and she began to pry it apart.

Skitter felt a dull jolt of pain and Mannequin broke her arm with the impact of one of his blades. She was thrown to the ground a second later and felt a rib snap. Mannequin loomed over her, two of his largest blades held up, ready to plunge into her. She didn't have her knife anymore and no silk would help her now. He had her completely trapped for that moment, and Skitter laughed.

She laughed because there was absolutely no reason to attack his head. No reason because she already knew there was nothing important in it. But she attacked it anyway, so he didn't notice when a piece of silk binding a blinking blue button to his midsection.

Mannequin broke in half as the explosion ripped through him. Skitter felt the lenses on her mask break and fire scorching the unbroken arm nearest to the flame. Tenant could block a lot of pain, but it was too much and the damage to her body was too extensive. She saw Brute coming into the doorway before just before she passed out.


	13. Learning to run

Getting stabbed sucked. I would have thought going toe to toe with Jack Slash for thirty minutes and living would have at least giving me a little bit of an ego boost, but instead it just hurt. A lot.

For someone with the word 'slash' in their name he sure did a lot of stabbing, He got me in both shoulders and my stomach. But that was ignoring the thousands of smaller cuts the now covered my entire body. My power made them pointless in terms of injuring me, but damn it they stung.

I suppose I did better than Taylor, who laid in a bed next to me. We were in her lair, waiting as Tattle's medic, Brooks, tended to us. Brute stood watch from the doorway. He had been quiet and angry since he brought Skitter in. I'd tried talking to him but was only met with grunts or silence. PillowMan had a few burns but was otherwise okay. He was out banishing his pillows back to where ever it is they all come from. Queen swung by earlier, but Brute wouldn't let her into the room. For a minute I thought they were going to fight right then and there, but I got up and talked with her outside of the room. My power meant I didn't bleed and pain was only a faint, almost pleasant stinging sensation.

I don't know what it was that Skitter did that cause those injuries, but damn. If I didn't know any better I would have said she was trying to show me up by doing something more reckless and more stupid than what I did. We all heard the numbers, but I at least had the sense to put a time limit on things. She went head to head against Mannequin, no holds barred and still came out on top. Skitter was kind of terrifying when I thought about it.

She muscle tearing all over her body and by all counts shouldn't be able to walk or move without excruciating pain when she woke up. Her right arm was broken and her left arm was burned and filled with bits of Mannequin. The lenses on her costume protected her from the explosion at first, before the shattered bits scratched her face. Luckily her eyes were fine. She also had bruising where Mannequin had hit her several times, particularly around her broken rib.

It was like she just came out of a war. My scratches in comparison looked petty and minor.

My thoughts were interrupted as Brute let Tattletale and Grue in the room. I saw Taylor's eyes open almost instantly and I frowned. Had she been faking it? Was she focusing on her bug and use them to let her know when the others had come in?

Taylor sat herself up on the bed without so much as a flinch at the pain. Did she just have that much of a pain tolerance or did Brooks give her something?

"Christ, Taylor!" Grue exclaimed as they began to surround her bed. I got up out of my bed and flinched a little as one of my stitches tore, but I made my way to her bed anyway.

"That bad?" Taylor asked with a dry smile

"I'd say it's pretty bad," Tattletale said. She was speaking quietly on the account of the stitches stretching from the corner of her mouth to the corner of her jaw, her lips pulled down in a perpetual frown. "You fought Mannequin and won. Killed him completely."

"Are you crazy?" Grue asked. "We all heard the numbers, _Forty-one_ percent chance we die trying to fight them."

"Numbers are probably smaller now," I said off-handedly. Mannequins death probably tilted thing in our favour a bit.

"Not the point," Grue said. "You could have died, you had both him and Burnscar there with you. What you did was insanely stupid."

"He was threating my people. I had to step up and save them, as the leader of my territory."

"You did that, yaes," Brute said, walking up to the bed, smoking a cigar. "Now you have many people wanting to work for you, but you nearly died." I cracked a smile and said,

"I think you made Brute angry with you for taking a strong target from him." Brute snorted, letting out an irregular puff of smoke.

"But something is bothering you." Tattletale observed. Brute shrugged and looked away.

"I serve good people. I serve good smart people when I can. I rarely serve strong people, yaes. But never have I gotten to serve smart, good, and strong person before, and then she nearly dies fighting opponent I could have squashed like bug."

"See, even Brute is concerned by the fact you took on Mannequin _by yourself_." Taylor sighed.

"On the plus side, a lot of people are talking about it," Tattletale mentioned.

"That's good for my rep, I guess," Taylor said. "What about Burnscar? And Shatterbird."

"Fire lady is hard to catch, yaes." Brute said with a nod. "But I took her arm. Is abnormal." Taylor raised an eyebrow and Tattletale stepped in to inform her.

"Bonesaw apparently had made modifications to everyone on the team. Reinforced their bones, built in painkillers, and such and such. Given that, Shatterbird probably made it out of the fire alive. But Queen said she would have her sonic cannons ready to fire in case she tries to attempt it again."

"Do you know if Jack accepted the deal?"

"Something like that, this was delivered today." Tattletale held out a piece of paper and I looked over Taylor's shoulder to read it.

The terms of engagement are as follows:

1\. Three days to each member of the Slaughterhouse Nine so we can conduct our tests. Tests will be performed one after the other, with eight rounds in total.

2\. A successful test or the removal of a candidate who has failed a test will earn the tester bonus time. 3-12 hours for a successful test depending on the number of candidates remaining and 24 hours for an execution.

3\. Should a tester suffer a sound defeat at the hands of any individual during their allotted time, they will be penalized one day of allotted time.

4\. Each tester operates independently, with no hands-on assistance from other members of the Slaughterhouse Nine. Assistance may be bought, bartered or otherwise rendered in a hands-off manner, possibly including medical assistance, information, provided equipment and suggestions.

5\. Candidates may receive assistance, hands-on or otherwise, from Brockton Bay residents only. We are fully aware that Legend and his teammates are in Brockton Bay. Should they interfere with a tester, all candidates will lose the protection of any rules, all terms offered here will cease and the threat implied in point eight will be carried out. This only applies to confrontations with the active tester.

6\. The Slaughterhouse Nine will handle the punishment of any members of their own team, in the event of failures, the inability of the tester to perform at least a partial round of testing or killing a candidate without notification.

7\. Should the defending parties have two or more candidates remaining when the eighth round of testing concludes, the Slaughterhouse Nine will depart Brockton Bay without incident and refrain from returning for three years at a minimum.

8\. If and when the Slaughterhouse Nine do eliminate five of the six candidates, or if any candidates leave the city, the Slaughterhouse Nine are prepared to penalize the city for their failure.

Shatterbird is the first to carry out her round of testing. She has two days remaining.

We will be in touch.

"Coil wants to have a meeting with us and the Travelers to discuss strategy," Grue said, still a little off put.

"Alright, let's go," Taylor said, swinging her legs over the bed to stand up. As if that was some sort of signal, Tattletale nodded to Grue who moved to stand in her way.

"What are you guys doing?" She asked, looking up at Grue. Tattletale moved closer.

"Nothing really, it's just that recently you have been doing done very un-Taylor like things. You've been acting _off_ since the Leviathan attack, but I didn't say anything because I thought maybe it was a result of fighting the Endbringer. But you started acting differently too." Tattletale paused and seated herself on the bed opposite of her.

"You have been able to see and hear with your bugs, something you couldn't do before. You react faster than you ever have, fighting Dragon and dodging every single one of her attacks. You took two bullets during our thing with the Merchants and were still able to walk and weave through the crowd expertly, even after saving Eraser. You're suddenly verbally skilled during the truce talks with Miss Militia and Hookwolf. And to top it all off you manage to kill Mannequin and have injuries all over your body that should stop you from moving, but it seems like you don't even feel the pain.

"So," Tattletale leaned forward on the bed and stared directly into Taylor's face. "What's going on, what has changed you?" We stared at her in silence for a long, tense moment. Taylor stared back wide eyed. The only sound was coming from Brute's cigar as he tapped it into an ashtray he had set on a nearby table. I thought she wasn't going to answer when she hung her head and said,

"There is a man in my mind." I could see Brute tense from where I was standing, the cigar snapping in his hand.

"What?" Grue asked, clearly taken back a step. Taylor shook her head.

"There is a cape that jumps from one host's mind to another when they die. His name is Tenant and he has been living in my mind since the Leviathan killed his last host."

"What's his real name?" Brute asked acidly. Suddenly everyone turned to look at him. His shoulders were rising up and down with repressed anger.

"He says he doesn't remember." Taylor answer, confused.

"Does he remember me? Does he remember what he did to me?" Slowly, Taylor shook her head.

"He says he doesn't remember anything from when he was a human, and he doesn't remember you either."

"Then tell him that he tortured me. Tell him that he force me to trigger and then I killed him while trying to escape. Then let the bastard know that he killed my best friend by getting into his head and tormenting him to death." Taylor opened her mouth then closed it, frowning deeply. She furrowed her eyebrows and look a little frustrated before speaking again.

"He says that he is a practical man and that probably did it for a good reason and that he can't gain enough control over a person to make them kill themselves so it was probably your friends own being weak willed that killed him. And he says he doesn't hold it against you that you killed him." Brute clenched his fist and turned on his heels, storming out of the room.

I should go after him, see if he is okay. On the other hand, Taylor has had a second voice in her mind for weeks and I really want to know what that means. I looked at the door, then back at Taylor. She was talking about Tenant's effects and Grue did not look happy at all.

There was drama with either decision, but the drama with Brute was slightly more interesting to me. Only issue being that the reason it was hard for me to be _an_ Undersider and not just _a_ Undersider is the fact that I kept missing these important conversations. I sighed a shuffled out the door, I had to be a friend to Brute because he is probably one of the few people on this team that still gives me the time of day.

Sometimes it's hard being as awesome as I am.

I found Stravik just a block away from the layer and quickly caught up with him. He was smoking a cigar again, leaning against a brick building that was falling apart. Neither of us were in our costumes anymore. I was back in one of my low cut tops that said 'badass', Stravik was in a white shirt with the sleeves tore off.

"Hey, big guy." I said, joining him on leaning against the wall.

"Have you come to have one of those heartfelt conversations you see in those cartoons you make me watch?" I shrugged.

"I mean, why a not? The others have their important conversations. Why can't we?" Stravik grunted.

"Look, I don't have to say anything if you don't want me to," I said diplomatically. "Just tell me how you feel and then maybe we can go find someone for you to punch? I know the Merchants aren't around anymore, but maybe you could pick a fight with some other gang?" Stravik sighed and tapped the ash from his cigar over sidewalk.

"I tell myself that I won't look for this man. Is lost cause, yaes. I kill him and he moves to another body, and with my luck other body is connected to good person. So I tell myself that he doesn't matter, that I will not care about it. I believe too.

"But now he is in the mind of my wielder. A wielder that so far has used me effectively and smartly." Stravik made a face as if deciding whether or not 'smartly' was a word. "I got angry, wanted to kill him. But he was in body connected to good person. Only now I don't know if people stay themselves with him. If he somehow changes their minds."

"For what it's worth, I don't think he changes who they are," I said sullenly. I wanted to help Stravik, but meaningful conversation just wasn't my thing. But, I guess I could offer him this. "I don't think he makes anyone better or worse, just more. If he actually changed someone we would have noticed the difference over time." Brute didn't respond to that for a moment. Instead, taking another pull from his cigar and tapping the ash out over the ground.

"I have vanted to find him," Brute continued, "Ask him many of things. But now I find out he does not even know his name. How can I be mad it a man who clearly doesn't even know who he was or vhat he did?"

"I don't know." I paused. "But you want to do the punching thing now? maybe go get something to eat?" Brute grunted and shrugged

"I guess."

"Oh! Can I come?" Queen flew down the street and landed next to me. I blinked and looked around. There were a few people hanging around the area that were now staring because of Queen. The infamous and at least partially insane Tinker, just flew down and landed next to me like I was a good friend. Wait, was I a good friend to her? It certainly seemed that way, but I've only know her for a few days.

But then I remembered when I saw her ship that she had so much, but everything was empty. She was alone, and I invited her to the team. Maybe that was all she needed.

"For punching things or going out to eat?" I asked. Queen shrugged.

"Either or. Just so long as we hang out." That was proof enough for me, even if her voice was in a permanent sing-song kind of tune. I looked at Brute. He was watching me patiently as if seeing what I wanted to do. Just then, Lisa came around the corner.

"Hey, 'sup guys? You all set to head over to Coil's to talk plans?" Brute turned away and started continued smoking his cigar. Queen suddenly looked uncertain, but I flash a reassuring smile at her.

"Sure, that's where how we figure out who we get to punch and when right?" Queen suddenly grinned and jumped up and down.

"Yay! Can I use my new stealth bomber plane? Please? Please?" Suddenly a voice cut in from a nearby alleyway.

"That sounds like explosive fun." We all turned to face whoever it was that said it. Striding confidently out of the alley was a cape in an all white costume. He wore a jumpsuit like in NASCAR, only there was a troll face where the logo should be. His mask was a solid one way mirror with a black Lenny face painted on the front.

"Troll." Lisa stated.

"Oh my, it appears I'm famous. Oh wait, I already knew that."

"What are you doing here?" Troll stared at her for a moment.

"Tsundere invited me to the team." Lisa whirled on me.

"You did what?" I blinked.

"Didn't I tell you?"

"No, no you didn't!"

"Oh, well. Troll showed up when I was fighting Jack, claiming Jack killed him at some point and some time. And then when Jack started running, like a bitch might I add, Troll invited me for an early breakfast at some Waffle House across town. I didn't want to be rude, so I went with him and at some point, I invited him to the team."

"Christ Riza! You can't just invite every psychopath with powers to the team!"

"Excuse me, two. I invite two people to the team, not counting PillowMan and his sister. And for the record, I don't think Troll is insane. Just kind of a dick sometimes."

"Thank you." Troll said honestly. Lisa put her fingers to her temple.

"You can't even control Queen, how do you expect any of us to get anything do with Troll around. It was bad enough when he was just in the city."

"Control them? Who said they needed or could be controlled?"

"She has a point, you know." Troll said with a nodded.

"Yeah." Queen agreed. Troll held out his hand and Queen high-fived it. Lisa stared at them for a moment before shaking her head.

"Then let me rephrase; how do you expect to get them to work with us instead of against us. And how do you expect them to not to kill a whole bunch of people in the process." I rolled my eyes.

"Come Tattle, you out of all people would know the answer better than me." Lisa shook her head.

"Just answer the questions." I looked back at Queen and Troll.

"Shared interested." Lisa nodded slowly. I felt my eye twitch. I was this close to surprising her. I made her panic a little with Troll, but honestly everyone panics with Troll. No matter how many times you kill him, he always respawns a block or two away and then just keeps coming back until he takes what he wants. Whatever that may be.

"I'm running with you guys because it's fun and because you do some good things on occasion, heroic things. It's a win-win for me." I jerk a thumb over my shoulder at Queen. "She wants to be able to use the things she builds, and she builds a whole lot. So long as she is with us we'll give plenty of chances to use those devices and we'll have her back if someone comes after her because of it. And Troll, is well…" Troll stepped forward and I was pretty sure he was grinning behind the mask.

"I chase the fun things in life. Endbringer attacks always stir up a lot of people to mess with. But I'm a sucker for fighting the Slaughterhouse Nine. They just make it too easy to screw with them. Jack trying to be all artful and Bonesaw begin the adorable little psychopath she is. But my favourite is Crawler, the perfect killing machine but can't kill a guy with no invulnerability or super strength or anything." Troll threw his head back and laughed. "I can't tell you how many times I ran up to his face and called him gay."

"And the body count?" Lisa asked me dryly. I looked at Troll, who said,

"There is nothing less fun than a corpse." Then I turned to Queen and said,

"Want to play a game?" Queen's eye lit up.

"I love games!" I grinned and said,

"Then how about this, for every person that isn't the really bad people in the Nine that you kill you get a point. And whoever has the most points at the end of the game looses."

"Like golf!"

"Exactly." Well, not that exactly, but close enough.

"Yay!" Queen clapped her hands together. Lisa shook her head.

"Alright, but they're your headache, not mine. If they do something, it's on you." Lisa paused for breath and looked between the four of us, Brute included. "You can put your costumes on or not, but we need to get going. It's time to fight the Nine."


	14. Shifting into high gear

They all sat tensely around the table. Coil at the head, the Travelers including Genesis' real body and a blond boy Skitter didn't recognize to Coil's left. The first of the Undersiders to Coil's right. For a minute it was almost like things were as they were meant to be, just the original Undersiders members before the Leviathan attack, before Tsundere and Brute. Before Pillow and Queen and Troll. But Tenant was standing behind Coil's seat, attempting to hide himself in the shadow. A dark reminder that The Undersiders have expanded larger and into stranger territory.  
Tsundere walked in with PillowMan, Queen of the Castle, Troll, and Brute in tow. Excluding Brute, it would have been her own little band of misfits. Tsundere, the reality warping anime otaku. Troll, the immortal but otherwise powerless annoying throne in the side of everyone in with any semblance of power to them. Queen of the Castle, the unstable, unpredictable, and insanely fast siege Tinker. And PillowMan, the… well, PillowMan.  
Brute suddenly froze, staring at the Travelers. Skitter studied him, looking for any signs of what he was thinking.  
'Hostility? Maybe he knows one of them? No, not showing any of the normal signs. Maybe one is an old friend or he worked with them for a while? No, Brute is too relaxed for that. Something has shocked him.'  
"Maybe if you paid attention, Skitter, you would see." Tenant said tiredly. He had been a little put off by all of her teammate's reactions to the fact she had someone in her head, changing how her mind works.  
"Hey, Brute?" Tsundere asked, waving a hand in front of his face. Brute didn't even blink. "Brute?" Tsundere asked again, frown and waving harder. The Travelers looked at each other apparently as confused as everyone else. Suddenly Troll pulled out a revolver from nowhere.  
"Would it help if I shot him?"  
"No!" Several of them said simultaneously. Troll paused and slid the gun into the pocket of his jumpsuit.  
"Geez, it was just an idea. And he could probably take it."  
"Brute? What are you staring at?" Tsundere said, giving him a little shove. Brute shook his head as if coming out of a daze.  
"I'm sorry," he said, "I just had never seen someone so beautiful." Troll clapped his hands and jumped out of his seat.  
"Excuse me?" Tsundere said, looking genuinely offended. Brute didn't even glance her way, continuing to look at one of the Travelers. "Well fine. I'll just take me and my tits elsewhere." Again, Brute didn't even look her way. Tsundere turned to look at Queen, her mouth open in shock. Queen put a hand on her shoulder and reassured her by saying,  
"For the record, I think your tits look great today." Tsundere nodded glumly.  
"Thanks Queen, but I just- I'm just not feeling it today, you know?" Troll's Lenny face mask seemed even larger now.  
"Now you're speaking my language Russian man." Troll threw an arm around Brute and asked, "Alright, who are we looking at." Brute raised a finger, pointing at Genesis still in her wheelchair. A little bit of colour rose to her cheeks as she opened her mouth and closed it again. Troll lifted his mask so we could all see his grin. He had a thin face, with high cheek bones. Blonde hair and blue eyes, fair looking.  
"Brute, as much as I can appreciate admiring a woman's, erm, natural beauty. You can't just walk into a room, point at a girl, and say she is beautiful."  
"Vhy a not?" Troll opened his mouth to answer but then considered it for a moment.  
"You know what? Your right, screw social norms! Now let's see." Troll scanned the room and his eyes feel on Sundancer.  
"Sundancer, might I say that you look-"  
 **Tsundere bashed Troll's skull in.**  
Everyone looked at her, holding her bloody bokken over Troll's body as it began to decompose into shards of light.  
"What?" She asked. "He'll get better." Coil pressed his hands to the side of his head.  
"If you're quite finished, we should get on with the meeting." Tsundere nodded and they all took their seats, except for Brute who elected to stand protectively behind Skitter. Troll walked back in a second later.  
"It happened so fast, I saw my life flash before my eyes. Or one of them at least."  
"Troll," Tsundere chided him. "Serious time."  
"Serious? I can do serious." Troll waved his hands in the air for a moment, pressed a few invisible buttons and suddenly his clothing flashed for a second. Then was in a three-piece suit and a porkpie fedora, complete with a feather sticking out of the hat. Troll slid into his seat and crossed his feet up on the table.  
"We're going to make them an offer they can't refuse." Everyone else elected to ignore him.  
"As part of the truce, we have made two groups," Coil said. He held out a hand to represent one group. "Miss Militia, Hookwolf, and Purity are going to be pooling their resources to create a massive fighting force that would overwhelm the Nine if they did anything overt. This, of course, is a tact that has tried and failed many times in the past. However, they should serve to keep the Nine occupied while we, the other team," Coil held out his other hand, "Preform measured strikes against the Nine. Do what we are skilled at and pick our battles, force the Nine out from wherever they're hiding."  
"The Nine have done this hundreds of times, playing games exactly like this." Skitter said. "If they are anything like us, which I think they are, they count on their enemies to perform a certain way. Meaning we need to do the opposite." Grue shot her a look, reminding her that she wasn't exactly trusted for the time being.  
"I agree," Coil said, "However you decided to accomplish that, you'll have my support." Skitter looked at Grue, silently telling him she was done for the moment. Grue sighed and turned to face the group.  
"We have a lot of firepower between all of us. We should split up into groups, divide the city three ways."  
"What did you have in mind?" Trickster asked. Grue thought for a moment.  
"Myself, Skitter, Genesis, Bitch, and Brute in one team. We'll take the coastline."  
"If you don't mind," Tattletale said, "I'll think I'll be more effective gathering intel here than I will be out in the field. I've taken a few hits recently." Grue nodded.  
"Just so long as you're contributing. Regent, PillowMan and DeathKid, Ballistic, and Sundancer in the second group. Taking the centre strip of the city, including the lake." Trickster nodded, understanding.  
"And Trickster, Imp, Tsundere, Queen, and Troll in the last group. They get the upper third of the city, all the way to the outskirts of the city." He was separating the more problematic members and delegating them to Tsundere, who would be watched over by Trickster. Not what Skitter would have done. Those three were easily their most effective members, excluding Brute. But Grue wasn't exactly in the mood to be challenged on that fact.  
"I have explosives for everyone!" Queen said excitedly. She threw her arm up and more blue buttons went flying across the table. "Press it once to make quite, press it twice to call for help and I'll send a jet your way, press it thrice for ten seconds till explosion, press it forice to reset from the beginning." Queen reached down and pressed a button on her mechanized combat skirt. The outside layer spun around and two panels opened and she began pulling out several guns. "Also, railguns for everyone!" Queen began tossing the weapons across the table.  
"How do they fire?" Trickster asked, looking over the gun in his hand.  
"You pull the trigger, duh."  
"Where's the safety?"  
"Psh, who needs safety?" Queen rolled her eyes and pressed another button on her skirt. The top and second layer spun in opposite direction and a new panel opened up. She pulled out a few dozen cylinders and began rolling them towards everyone at the table. "Went the clip is spent it will pop out the side and you just need to slip in the new one. Easy as cake." Everyone shared a concerned look, but picked up the explosives and the gun.  
"You should make individual plans of attack for each member." Tenant prompted her. Skitter agreed and turned to face the group.  
"I think we would benefit in the long run if Brute kills Crawler." Brute nodded with a grunt of approval. "But we should make plans for each individual member while we're here." Queen grinned and clapped her hands.  
"I have bomber planes ready drop napalm missiles on them at any moment."  
"Let's save that as a last resort." Coil said smoothly. "What of the others. Jack?"  
"We'll need to take out the others before we can kill him," Tattletale said. "He knows his power won't be all that against ours. We take Cherish and Shatterbird, then Crawler and Burnscar next. Then we deal with Bonesaw, Jack, and Siberian."  
"Doing in that order might make them more desperate and more likely to lash out." Skitter pointed out.  
"Which is why we have we have Miss Militia ready to strike when that happens. With these weapons, we should stand a good chance of wounding anyone except Crawler and Siberian." Skitter and Tenant nodded.  
"Then, if that is all," Coil said, rising from his seat, "I must go and make some calls. I'll have computers and other equipment getting shipped in shielded against sound incase Shatterbird attempts another attack like the last one."  
"Just one thing," Skitter said. Coil paused and waited for her to continue. "Queen, how many vehicles do you have like your planes and submarines?" Queen paused.  
"Well, my nearest weapon's cache is in a corner of New York state, but that isn't going to have the kind of cars you're talking about. You want tanks and things right?"  
"If you can." Queen tapped her chin ponderously.  
"I have a bunker on the coast of North Carolina. I can get armoured cars, tanks, a small fleet of ships, some subs, more planes and helicopters, and a few mechs."  
"Mechs?" It was Tsundere who spoke. Queen shrugged.  
"Siege weapons changed from Ballistas to cannons over time. Tinkers build things ahead of their time, and siege weapons of the future include mechs."  
"Is anyone else confused?" Brute asked.  
"Robots." Tsundere said. "Giant robots you can get inside and pilot." That made Brute look even more confused that, but he didn't say anything else.  
"How much?" Skitter asked, lacing her hand together in her mouth. Queen leaned her seat back on two legs so far Skitter thought she would fall.  
"You wouldn't have to spread it too thin to patrol the whole city." The others gaped at her. Skitter took a little satisfaction at the idea Coil did a double take under his mask. "But it would take a day or two for everything to get here. And of course the shiny heros would know about it and I wouldn't be put everything back."  
"Why would you need that much fire power?" Queen grinned.  
"Well, obviously the best way to test my stuff is against an Endbringer. But they never attack places near my bunkers."  
"Bunkers?" Grue asked. "How many do you have?" Queen thought about it.  
"I two more in America, I have one floating around somewhere. I've been trying to get some in Europe, but I never find the time to sail overseas."  
"When do you find the time for any of this?" Grue asked, getting increasingly more exasperated.  
"It's not like I'm doing anything else." Skitter noticed Tsundere making a concerned face as they spoke.  
"Perhaps this would be a good time for us to head out," Coil said. "I don't think Queen's little military will be necessary for the time being." They all nodded in agreement and rose from their seat, each moving into their respective teams.  
PillowMan and Ballistic's team left immediately, heading for the centre of the city and started looking for Shatterbird or otherwise. Skitter caught Brute staring at Genesis again, Genesis for her part was doing her best not to look back. Troll walked up to Brute and threw an arm around him again.  
"Give it up Brute." Troll told him. "Woman and wheelchairs are almost impossible to land. They always think they're being made fun of, or not good enough, or too good and no one is good enough for them. Believe me, I've tried." Brute shot him a sidelong glance.  
"I can kill this one, yaes?" Tsundere shrugged.  
"For the most part, but try to refrain from doing it too often." Brute growled at Troll, who's Lenny face mask looked back at him unchanging.  
"Nine words." Brute said. Troll tilted his head.  
"You think so?"  
"Nine words to get her to go out with me. One thousand dollars." Troll moved back and looked at him.  
"Well, now I'm so curious I have to take the bet. Let's see it big man." Brute nodded and walked in her direction. Tsundere moved close to Troll and they watched the exchange together. Skitter thought she saw them lean forward when he stopped to talk to her, but she wasn't sure.  
"Have you ever gone dancing?" Everyone drew a breath and started watching him intently. Genesis got flustered, unsure if she should be offended or not.  
"No." She said flatly.  
"Would you like to?" Brute held out a hand to her. There was a pause and she took it.  
"That sly mother fucker…" Troll said, pulling a wad of bills from his pockets. Skitter glanced over and briefly wondered how deep those pockets were.  
Genesis took Brute's hand and was lifted up out of her wheelchair. Brute handled her entire body weight easily and the upper body strength she had built up over the years helped keep her steady. Her knees went straight and for a moment, it seemed like she was standing. Her eyes widened, but Brute was pulling her forward.  
It took Skitter a moment to realize what he was doing. He was using his strength, her strength, and the momentum between them to give the illusion she was on her feet. He spun her around himself once before sliding her effortless back into her chair.  
"I know place, if it is still there vhen we finish with the Slaughterhouse Nine." Silently Genesis nodded her head. Brute turned around, and for the first time Brute was smiling smugly as Troll slipped him the thousand dollars.


	15. Jogging with runners

"Yep, we got Jack and Siberian here on the west side of town. Look for Queen's helicopters. Yes, that is why you keep getting notifications that Jack is killing Troll, just hurry okay." I sighed and hung up the phone.  
Queen and Troll were chasing down Jack while Trickster, Imp, and I hung back and waited to see if an opening came up. There were explosions and gunshots going everywhere as we followed them. Siberian was holding on to Jack granting him her invulnerability for the moment.  
"This sucks," I said.  
"Hm?" Trickster asked, lighting a cigarette.  
"We're fighting some of the scariest people in the world and not only is my own team excommunicating me, but I'm also stuck with you as a babysitter."  
"I'll try not to take that as an insult." Trickster said dryly.  
"I should be down there, having fun with the others."  
"Fun?" I cocked my head at him.  
"Well, yeah. You can't tell me you don't find fighting exhilarating. Not to mention fighting someone as skilled as Jack or Siberian, just adds to the challenge." Trickster took a pull from the cigarette and sighed a puff of smoke.  
"That there is why your team is excommunicating you."  
"What?" I didn't understand. Did he know something I don't know?  
"Is Imp still here?"  
"Nope, she darted off a minute ago." Trickster nodded and leaned against the edge of a building as Queen chased Siberian inside a construction yard. I had to give her credit, she was at least attempting to keep the destruction to a minimum. Not that she was succeeding as her weaponry was created to destroy armour and thick walls.  
"Then I'll ask you this, why is Grue on the team?"  
"Because he needed money for him and his sister."  
"And why didn't he join the Wards?"  
"Need more money than that, and faster." Trickster nodded.  
"Right, and Regent?"  
"Running from Heartbreaker."  
"Bitch?"  
"She was told people would leave her alone if she got enough power."  
"Skitter?"  
"Wanted to be a hero at first, now she thinks we do more good than they do."  
"Do you see what I'm getting at here?"  
"Not really." Trickster took another breath of the cigarette and sighed.  
"Everyone has a good reason for being a villain. For some of us, we had no choice. For others, it was simply our best choice. But there are three people who choose this life because they actually enjoy it. Queen of the Castle, Troll, and you." I blinked.  
"You're saying I'm just as bad as them."  
"Bad? No. I'm saying the three of you share the same insanity, but you are closer to sanity than the two of them."  
"That isn't much better." Trickster shrugged.  
"you're a rogue element. For the most part, you have done what you want when you have wanted to. Grue probably doesn't feel like he can exercise any control over you like he does the others, and honestly just look at what you have done in the month or so it's been. You have invited PillowMan, DeathKid, Queen, and Troll to the team without even asking anyone. You're lucky it was Skitter who you gave PillowMan to because no one else would have been happy about. As far as Queen and Troll are concerned, no one wants to get rid of them because of the usefulness they might have. But both of them are almost their own S-class threat and as soon as the thing with the Slaughterhouse Nine is done, they'll probably want you to get rid of them. And then they might try to get rid of you." I fell silent. Purity was coming on the scene know with her Pure. Queen was in the middle of dropping a building on Jack and Siberian when Purity obliterated it with a beam of light.  
 **Purity wiped Troll from the face of the planet.**  
"So what am I going to do?" Trickster thought for a moment.  
"Well, one thing can do is prove that you're willing to play ball with your team. Listen to instructions, including getting rid of Queen and Troll." I didn't like that idea. I didn't mind doing whatever Skitter asked, and even Grue to some extent, but I didn't think that I could tell Queen to leave. I thought of her ship and how empty it was, and how Queen actually seemed upset when I pointed it out. Maybe Queen and I weren't the same brand of crazy, maybe she was some other crazy entirely. The kind of crazy that is obsessively constructing weapons and is really helping me because she wants a friend. I couldn't prove that, I could only guess. But would I be willing to risk betting against the chance she wanted a friend? I didn't think so.  
"And the other thing?"  
"Strike off on your own. Maybe you can get Queen and Troll to follow you for a bit. You might even get PillowMan and DeathKid to come."  
"Just like that? Break off from the team and go my own way." Trickster nodded.  
"Let's be honest, The Undersiders were doing just fine without you, and will continue to do fine without you. Especially with Brute working for Skitter. But I wouldn't count on you being able to form a cohesive team." I raised an eyebrow at that.  
"Why do say that?"  
"Because to lead a team you need something. Something that pulls people together and gets them to follow you. And simply saying 'we're in it for the fun' isn't a good enough reason."  
"You know, your team isn't exactly all that fond of you either." Trickster crushed out his cigarette and pushed away from the railing he was leaning on.  
"I know, and I think that a few of them are going to turn their back on me soon. They have wanted to for a long time." I drew my eyebrows together trying to puzzle that together.  
"So why haven't they before?"  
"We all sort of came into this together, and we made a promise to stick together no matter what. It has kept us as a team for years, but I don't think it is going to do anymore. I'm just waiting for that final act that finally pulls the team apart." He was so calm about it as if there was nothing wrong at all. He didn't seem concerned, just bored.  
"So what are you going to do?"  
"Nothing. I could do something, find a few smaller things to keep us together for a few more years, and then I could find something else after that. But I don't think I will. I'll do what I can to make it easier for the others to leave, but I think the Travelers are just about over." He didn't say anything else after that, and I didn't ask.  
 **Siberian tore Troll apart.**  
"Well, let's get going," I said, drawing my katana. "I have had my power working on my body for the last twenty minutes we've been watching them and I'm dying to use some of this." Trickster nodded once and held up his railgun. Mine was strapped to my back. I wasn't planning on using it, knowing blades are more effective in anime than guns, but it would be a nice fallback.  
I glanced up at Purity as she floated in the air, overlooking the battlefield. She kind of struck me as the silent God passing judgement from above when she did that, fitting I suppose with her beliefs.  
Night, Fog, and Crusader were hounding Jack and Siberian on the ground, pushing them back towards Queen and Troll. Queen was in her power armour and mechanized combat skirt, Troll was carrying an RPG that he was reloading with ammo he got from his inventory.  
I had learned a little bit more about Troll's power while we prepared to hunt the Nine. It was like a limited version of The Gamer power I read about on that one webcomic a few years back. He respawned, but he also had an inventory capable of storing weapons, clothing, and food, but nothing else. He also said he had a menu that let him turn on subtitles and musical accompaniment for himself, but nothing useful. His real assets were his inventory and his respawning ability.  
Every time Jack was in between the two groups Purity would send a beam of light down on his head. Things were slow going, but Siberian couldn't fight back properly and hold on to Jack at the same time. And every minute we came that much closer to knocking him off. Siberian had stumbled a few times. Skitter had said, or maybe it was Tenant, that all powers had a drawback, some limitation that stopped them from being all powerful. One of the things we speculated Siberian's might be was an overall limit to how much she could take at one moment. Another was that she might not be able to take a lot of hits from several different directions.  
Either way, they were cornered for the moment.  
My phone rang a second before I was about to jump off the building for a dramatic entrance into the fight. I paused and answered it, hearing Tattletale's voice on the other end.  
"Grue and Skitter's group are fighting Shatterbird, Cherish, and Burnscar in their area. I heard some of the Protectorate saying that you have Jack and Siberian there?"  
"Yeah, you think that means that the last of them are going to show up somewhere in the third territory?"  
"Maybe, I can't-" Tattletale was cut off by the sound of Crawler tearing through a building he had been hiding in and clawing Purity out of the air in a single leap.  
"Tattle, I'm going to have to let you go. I just found Crawler." I hung up the phone before she could say anything and leapt off the roof of the building. On my way down I saw Trickster swapping Crawler out with cars while Purity ascended back into the sky, this time higher than Crawler could reach.  
I hit the ground with an earth shattering crash and drew a second katana. If it came down to it, I was sure I could kill Jack with the dual wielding skills I had picked up.  
I looked up only to find that Jack wasn't riding on Siberian's shoulder anymore, and now she was facing me.  
"Flash Strike!" I shouted, moving in a circle as I shouted the move. I disappeared briefly from view as I teleported behind her. I spun around, slashing both katanas through her back.  
My logic was sound, the one thing that we knew would stop her was her running into one of Clockblocker's time frozen objects. So the only thing that can effect Siberian was anything ready to break the laws of time and space. And I certainly did that.  
I felt my blades tearing through her like she was made of paper, which made me pause. When I finished the move I looked back at her and saw she was still standing there, four cuts going clean through her torso. She twitched, like a glitching television screen, her body pulled and stretched into unnatural proportions.  
Then she was back to normal no evidence of my cuts at all. The good news was that she was running, the bad news was that Crawler was still behind me somewhere.  
I turned and sheath one sword, I would need strength more than speed if I was going to fight Crawler. But as I turned I saw Fog enveloping Crawler in her gaseous form. The shadow from Night moving from the inside. I bit my lip. Between Fog and Night, they stood a good chance of actually killing Crawler, but if they failed they would make him that much stronger.  
I took out Queen's button and pressed it twice before throwing it in Crawlers direction. Hopefully, a fighter jet or something would finish the job if they aren't done.  
I found Troll enter my range of power as I darted behind a nearby building. I didn't sense Queen around and I wasn't hearing the normal explosions that accompanied her presence. Come to think of it, Troll was coming from a completely different direction from where I saw him last. Did I miss his last death notification?  
"You're not going to like this." Troll said as he slipped into the same alleyway as me. I peeked out around the corner and checked on the fight with Crawler. Not any progress as far as I could tell.  
"They got Queen." I froze and slowly turned his way. "Jack lead her into a building and Bonesaw blew this dust into her face and she went down a moment later. I thought about going after them, but I thought you'd want to know." Before I could answer Trickster teleported next to me.  
"Shatterbird is dead," he said bluntly. "And they've captured Cherish. Coil wants us to pull back and regroup." I didn't hesitate to answer.  
"Tell Coil he can go fuck himself. Bonesaw's taken Queen and I'm going after her. While you're telling him that let him know that Crawler is here and he should send Brute." Trickster was saying something, but I grabbed Troll and started running.  
Fuck everyone else, I invited Queen and I would get her back. And if they did kick me from the team then I'll have to live with it.


	16. Hitting a jogger

Skitter hadn't had a lot of opportunities to observe either Tsundere nor Brute in a fight. She mostly had managed them from her lair as she and Tenant worked on her other projects. She only came out when she felt like doing another power play or Sierra and Charlotte informed her one of her people was having an issue that required a more delicate or precise touch. Like families out of supplies or having issues with rats. Brute handled serious threats, managed and trained hired muscle for her, and clear large debris out of the way. Tsundere handled day to day policing of the territory and some of her more mundane tasks.

As a result, she never got a real glance into what a battle would be like between Brute and Crawler and she didn't expect the extent of power Tsundere would have after an entire hour of fighting.

Everyone was here now, an impromptu all out battle. Both sides were forcing the other to play they way they didn't want to. What was at first a carefully measured operation turned into all out war on both sides.

Tsundere had refused to return when Coil ordered her to in favour of chasing down Bonesaw and Jack. So, Skitter's team moved into help, putting Brute on Crawler and assisting in whatever way they could. That bought time for Burnscar and Siberian to join the fray. At first, Burnscar was attempting to help Jack deal with the unrelenting force that Tsundere had become, but Hookwolf and Miss Militia suddenly moved in on the scene and began engaging her and Siberian. The third team The Undersiders and the Travelers had split up upon arrival and began helping as well. And thus everything devolved into something resembling an Endbringer attack.

Legend and several of the Protectorates strongest fighters were fighting Siberian to little effect but keeping her from killing anyone too easily. Others were trying to take on Burnscar, but fire was everywhere and she was only making it worse. The Pure were helping Brute fight Crawler, but their effect was barely noticeable.

Brute moved fast, striking Crawler repeated over and over again. Bits of Crawler was exploding all over the place as he struck, but they were healing back into place too quickly. The two of them fighting together were destroying buildings that beforehand had been relatively untouched. It was like they were wrestling with each other instead of actually trying to kill each other. Crawler's acid and claws rarely did anything but scratch Brute's skin, Brute's fists were hurting Crawler, but Crawler recovering too fast. But oddly, not as fast as he should be.

Skitter's primary mind recognized what was happening a moment later.

'Crawler is losing.' Over and over again Brute struck him with enough force to completely incapacitate the monster. Thus, Brute 'defeated' Crawler for an instance and stole some of his strength, healing, and durability. Then Crawler's power kicked in and attempted to adapt to what hurt him, but only managing to build himself up enough to make up for what Brute stole. Resulting in a constant loop that eventually would eventually come out with Brute on top.

Which meant Skitter didn't need to focus on him, so long as Siberian and others didn't interfere, Crawler was as good as dead if he doesn't run soon.

Skitter turned toward the rest of the fighting. This portion of the city was on a steady track of getting completely levelled. Burnscar had six tall building completely engulfed in flames. Creatures made out of fire were rising out of them and assaulting heroes and villains all over the area. Legend was cutting down buildings as he pursued Siberian across the breaking buildings. Genesis was a creature that seems to be some combination of a wall, a rhino and a mole. Barreling through buildings with a large flat face plate and releasing powerful jets of water out a dozen blow holes lining the creatures back.

Everyone had started to realize that the damage to this part of town was already too extensive for them to care about holding back anymore, so they weren't.

"What about civilian's?" Skitter asked. The earpiece hidden under the mask of her costume picked up her words and sent them to Tattletale on the other end of the line.

"Being evacuated by the Wards and the less effective people, including PillowMan."

"PillowMan should be put up against Siberian to see if he can do anything." Tenant said before Skitter repeated it for him.

"It won't be good. PillowMan feels strongly about helping others, but he is an absolute coward and completely unsure of himself in a fight." Skitter nodded even though she knew Tattletale couldn't see her. She had noticed the same thing when taking him out on patrols. He feigned confidence if he thought someone was watching him, but he was clumsy, socially awkward, and easily terrified. It made him good for evacuation, but not much else.

"We should still get some of his pillows on the scene."

"We have other priorities. They said that Tsundere cut through Siberian, and then she apparently flickered and was fine again. It doesn't fit her power set."

"So what are you thinking?"

"I think that she is like Genesis someone nearby projecting or controlling her. We need to find that person and take them out."

"Got it." Skitter said and started sweeping the area with her bugs. She wasn't sure how much luck she would have finding the master, as this portion of the city had already sustained significant damage. But she would look as she moved toward Jack and Tsundere.

Tsundere went sailing overhead, carried by a hundred foot blade. She collided into one of the few buildings still standing in the area, causing the roof and surrounded walls to collapse in on her as she crashed. She burst back through a second later and Skitter got to see her for the first time since the fight started.

Her hair was a bright red and had flames radiating from it. Her kimono had change colours to red as well but was in much worse shape. It was torn and burned, as well as a little revealing now. Her skin was covered in black lines, the kind that might be drawn on an anime character to show they were bruised or scuffed. But she had apparently become strong enough that she couldn't be wounded enough to bleed.

'We aren't ready for this.' Skitter thought with a touch of trepidation. Tenant waved his hands dismissively.

"Neither were they, each of us was knocked unbalanced a little by this escalation. But it's in our favour as we have more firepower on our side."

'This seems like something Jack would have anticipated happening and planned for, but he doesn't seem to have any tricks so far.'

"Want my guess? Jack plays his game based on the fact that he has done this enough times he can predict how others are going to play the field. He hadn't spoken to you enough to realize you would try playing it against the way he wanted, which led to Tsundere being here in the first place. Then Tsundere, who isn't your average cape, made her way here and Jack certainly didn't have enough chat time to know she would chase after him like she did. Leading to this whole charade. Jack is smart, but if the little things he can't predict are put into the right places you can the jump on him big time. No, the real question is, what was his original plan and how can we use it against him?" Skitter made a mental note of what he said and turn her minds back to the battlefield

Skitter found Jack a moment later, or rather she found the cloud of gas that surrounded him that was killing all of her bugs. Using her bug's sight she found him standing surrounded by tall piles rubble. Out of sight of anyone willing or capable of doing something to fight him. He was perfectly unharmed except for three scratches, two on his clothes and one across his cheek.

"Skitter." Tenant said. Skitter looked over at him. "You've found Queen, you should go after her before Bonesaw does something serious. And we all know she doesn't need any more brain damage." Skitter pursed her lips and thought. Her second mind had worked with Tenant to scan through the buildings and found Queen and Bonesaw at the edge of her range.

"I have to help." Skitter said. "Jack is right there. This is the best chance for us to kill him, when both sides are knocked this far off balance."

"Sure, you could do that." Tenant said sarcastically. "If you want to die. Tsundere's power gives her more speed, skill, and strength than I could ever give you and she barely scratch him. Your bugs die before they even get close. What are you going to do? Throw silk at him and hope something hits?"

"I can do this." Tenant fell silent as he felt her idea take form in her head before she voiced or acted on it. All the flying bugs in the area converged over Jack, spelling his name in massive letters with an arrow pointing downwards at him.

Immediately, everyone on the field moved towards Jack and Tsundere. Burnscar torched the bugs Skitter had put out, but it was too late. Crawler and Siberian were running in Jack's direction as Legend and Purity flew towards him as well. All the firepower was consolidating on Jack position, maybe that gave him the advantage in the long run but it would delay him for the moment.

Skitter jogged around the corner and caught up to where Tsundere was kneeling against her sword where she had stuck it the ground, breathing heavily. Legend and Purity's beams of light drilled into Jack's location, blinding light keeping them from seeing anything going on. PillowMan jogged up to them with DeathKid riding on his back.

"Tsundere, can you walk?" Tsundere grit her teeth and grunted, she sword shaking in her hand. "I found Queen, PillowMan and I are going after her while Jack is occupied. I want you to stay here." Tsundere's hair flared with a bit more flame and she rose to her feet. She flicked her katanas out from her her body and they flashed with light. Her right katana taking on a blue light and her left turning red.

"Let's go." PillowMan and Skitter shared a concerned glance, but Tsundere was waiting for her to point them in the right direction. Skitter sighed motioned her in the general direction and they started running.

Bonesaw was hiding out in a wide three story building with a few dozen people inside with her. Tsundere was slowly healing with her power but it wasn't very fast. Yet she was standing steady.

"Why aren't we going in?" Skitter and PillowMan shared a glance again.

"Bonesaw has hostages in their." Skitter replied.

"Skitter, this is Bonesaw of the Slaughterhouse Nine, if she has these people marked for death, then they're as good as dead aren't they?"

"Exactly what I had been saying." Tenant pointed out for the sixth time in the last five minutes.

"Doesn't mean we should kill them." PillowMan said weakly. DeathKid was sleep against his shoulder, the white mask that covered her cheek bones sliding off slightly. "Can't we wait for the others to get done so they can help?"

"Well, correct me if I'm wrong," Tsundere began, "But didn't you say, Skitter, that Jack wants us to play a certain way. He would be expecting us to hold back because of the hostages. Every minute we wait is another minute that Jack has a chance to escape and Bonesaw has a chance to work on Queen's body. We need to do the opposite, and strike without even considering the hostages if we are going to win."

"She makes a lot of sense." Tenant said.

'She is going to get those people killed.' Skitter thought back at him.

"And Bonesaw is likely to kill them anyway, or worse. On top of the fact that Jack and her will get away because this is all likely all part of a plan. Then they both get away and release the plague because Legend got involved and thousands of people die. Then they get away in the end and do this again in some other city. Sorry, but it looks like Tsundere and I have been cursed with the ability to do math." Skitter frowned and looked back at Tsundere, who was impatiently waited for an answer.

"You and Tenant agree, not a good sign." Tsundere gave a determined smirk.

"So I can?" Skitter sighed.

"Go ahead." Tsundere turned and stepped out into the open, raising a colour katana in each hand.

"Elemental Cross!" Tsundere leaped into the air and slashed both swords in front of her. A red and blue energy cross flew forward, cutting through the air and sinking deep into the face of the building where it exploded into a wave of ice and fire. Cold air met warm air and a miniature tornado kicked up for a second, slinging rocks and debris for a few seconds before dispersing.

Skitter felt that Queen and Bonesaw were still fine, if totally unmoving inside the room they were in. The remainder of the hostages started running out of the building, letting everyone see what Bonesaw did.

Each and everyone was given a patch job surgery to make them look like a member of the Nine. Faces twisted and warped, limbs cut short, hair dyed, cut, and grown. Not perfect copies, just enough for them to get mistaken with a glance and getting killed by some cape. It would probably cost each of them hundreds of dollars to get to a point looking anything like their old selves.

Skitter shook her head, no time to think about that. Tsundere was already moving into the building, one katana drawn and the other sheathed. Skitter and PillowMan leapt to their feet to follow, the anime effects taking hold and propelling them forward incredibly fast.

The movement jarred DeathKid awake. She sat up a little and looked around at the blur of the world around her as PillowMan ran at anime speeds. Her eyes settled on Skitter.

"One-fourth chance you die. One-half chance my brother and I die. One third chance Queen of the Castle dies. One twentieth chance Tsundere dies." Skitter could see the colour drain out of her face as she told the numbers. Her voice was soft, almost frail to the point Skitter only heard her because of the bugs she had placed on the collar of PillowMan's costume. As soon as she said them she was out again, slumping against her brother's back.

The numbers were in their favour, for the most part, they just had to keep them that way.

Skitter directed them to a door. On the other side, she could feel Queen and the death cloud around Bonesaw. She motioned for all of them to get ready, Skitter stood to the left of the door, gathering a swarm and cords of silk. PillowMan stood to the right, holding one hand out ready to fire a pillow at any moment. He looked nervous, but otherwise prepared. Tsundere cut down the door a second later.

A powder flew into their faces. Skitter toppled to the floor, limp. Tsundere, PillowMan, and DeathKid fell next to her. Skitter fell in just the right way that she could see Bonesaw approaching. Her eyes were wide and questioning, like she just saw a ghost pass through a wall in front of her

"Doesn't make any sense… no sense… no sense." She muttered. Tenant was chuckling in the background.

"This moron of a Tinker just attempted to disable the part of your brain that controls your powers." He said with a knowing grin. "You can move on your own now, your power is free too. Completely no effect on you at all. But wait for a good moment to strike, that will really catch her off guard." Tenant grinned and leaned his head up against a wall. "It's villains like these that make what I do worthwhile."

"You," Bonesaw said, pointing at Tsundere. "You're her friend right?" Tsundere managed a slight nod, her power at work probably. With this powder Bonesaw used Tsundere likely was maintaining constant 'pressure' as she called it. It was probably going on passively, affecting everyone including Bonesaw.

"Her brain is messed up. It doesn't make any sense. Her Corona Pollentia is on the other side of her mind. She is impossible, shouldn't be alive. But instead is working better than any other Tinker." Bonesaw sat on the ground, her knees up to her face and her hands gripping the sides of her head. "I can't understand it. I always understand it. But I can't. Her mind shouldn't work, but it does anyway. Cherish said she couldn't sense her emotions, said it shorted out her power if she tried to focus on it. We didn't believe her, but now I know. I know I don't know and it scares me."

"It will be okay," Jack said, coming into the room with a knife spinning in his hand. "Take what information you can Bonesaw then kill The Mad Tinker. We must retreat for the time being." Jack turned and smiled at Tsundere. He gave a little mock bow.

"I must applaud you for today, not many have ever thrown me off balance like that before. And because of that, I think we might have to cut out stay here in Brockton Bay short." Jack paused to study Tsundere's face. "You know? I was looking forward to my time here. This game we were going to plan would have made everything much more interesting. I could have done so much, but the real pain is that I won't get to figure you out. I simply don't have the time to find that part of you that will make you fall apart." Jack glanced back and saw the Bonesaw was almost about done. "Oh well, another time perhaps."

"Hey Jack." Tsundere said hoarsely.

"Hm?"

"You like art don't you?"

"I will admit I tend to have a flare for the dramatic."

"Do you watch anime?"

"I can't say I have. We have little time for cartoons because of the games we play."

"A shame, it is really amazing to watch. But I suppose it isn't surprising you haven't watched it. Because no one who has watched anime would be as stupid as you are being right now." Jack frowned.

"Sinking to petty insults? My expectations of you were higher."

"Petty? Oh no, do you realize how serious an insult it is to say your more idiotic than an anime fan? No, I suppose you don't, otherwise, you would say such stupid shit. Because you made one glaring flaw, one enormous impossible to ignore flaw that every anime fan could see from a mile away!" Jack frowned and pointed the tip of his blade towards Tsundere.

"What is that?"

"Didn't anyone ever tell you? There is one thing you never do to an anime character, you thing you never do if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans on surviving until tomorrow, there is one thing you never ever do to an anime character!"

"And what would that be?"

"Threaten their friends." The moment Tsundere said the last word she was enveloped in a glaring yellow light. Everyone froze and watched as her golden silhouette rose up off the group and floated into the air. The golden form began to change; the vague outline of her kimono changing until it resembled something closer to a long coat.

Skitter only had a moment to look her over before she sprang to her feet at lightning speed, Tenant assisting. But with the speeds her mind was working at these days, Skitter only needed a moment.

Tsundere's purple kimono had turned into a red and purple suit with a purple long coat and gloves. The suit glittered and even with Tenant it took Skitter a moment realize exactly why it glittered. It was chainmail, so finely linked that it looked like fabric. Tsundere hovered with the toe of one foot off the ground, the other bent behind her as the long coat flapped in an invisible wind.

A fraction of a second later Skitter was on her feet and the rail gun was in her hand. Tenant helped her point the gun accurately and she pulled the trigger. The gun barely recoiled at all as it fired a blue beam of light satisfying sound. It struck Bonesaw in an explosion of blue light and blood. Bonesaw's right arm went flying across the room and her chest caved in. Skitter turned her gun on Jack, only to see Tsundere attacking him with a constant blur of floating swords and her own railgun trained on him.

Siberian darted through the room and picked up Jack and Bonesaw, each now bleeding from new wounds, all thought Jack was only covered in scratches. He looked a little smug about it too.

"No!" Tsundere shouted. "Telestorm!" Her two swords came together and began spinning incredibly fast before spearing through Siberian. She flickered again as if struggling to stay in existence before, before returning to normal form and carrying the two of them out.

Tsundere fell to her knees and her clothing shifted back into the way it was before, the lines marking wounds from before returning. Skitter moved to help, but Tsundere waved her off. Electing to struggle to her feet by herself. Brute came silently into the room a moment later, his mask was missing one-half and everything but his pants had been destroyed. Leaving him there in just his bare chest and heavily toned arms.

"Where's Queen?" Tsundere asked between breaths. Skitter pointed to a door just left of them. Tsundere nodded walked forward, her hand clutching her side where she suddenly had a deep cut that she was bleeding from. It looked worse than it was, Skitter knew, but was she that depleted on power or was she just tired?

Tsundere opened the door and found Queen suspended with her arms stretched out and the back of her head opened up. She was laying face down on a table, but she was moving so they knew she was awake.

"Hey, Queen." Tsundere said kindly as she began removing straps from around her.

"You came back." Queen's voice was tired and loose like she was riding the high of any drugs Bonesaw gave her. "People don't do that, you want something. You want to use me." Queen was rapidly beginning to panic. Tsundere didn't even acknowledge it.

"We're going to take you back to your ship now, okay?"

"People aren't nice, people don't care for Queen. They say she is crazy, evil, villain. No one wants Queen for anything except her weapons. That's all they want. Weapons. Capitalists, socialist, communists, Islamists, it's always weapons weapons weapons. No more, I won't give you my weapons. No more. No more! No more!"

"Queen enough." Tsundere said sternly, yanking Queen off the table as the last strap came free. Skitter winced, even though she knew Tsundere's power would keep the hole in the back of Queen's head from being a real issue. Tsundere's greatest challenge was going to dealing with Queen's insanity after a Bonesaw. Bonesaw didn't make her like this, just triggered it.

"I came back for you and you alone. Now, let me take you back to the ship." Queen stared at Tsundere for a moment. Skitter thought they might have to use force, but the Queen's eyes started tearing up.

"You came back!" Queen threw her arms around Tsundere and began to cry into her shoulder. Tsundere panicked briefly but quickly found her bearings and began patting Queen on the back.

"Come, let's get out of here." Tsundere slid an arm underneath Queen's shoulder and helped her to her feet. Brute moved to help but Tsundere stopped him with a glance and a shake of her head. Alone, she helped Queen out of the room and out into the open where one of her attack helicopter's was already waiting. Brute stroke his chin and chuckled a little.

"What?" Skitter asked him.

"Nothing, just…" Brute trailed off before finding his train of thought again. "I once told her that she wouldn't be a good weilder for me if the chance ever happened. I think I may have been wrong."


	17. Getting up

Sleep hit me like a freight train loaded with thousands of pounds of coal and steel with one destination; my face at a hundred miles per hour. So yeah I was pretty tired.

I normally didn't feel so drained after a fight. Normally, I spend twenty minutes fighting then I take a nap to regain some strength. The last time over use of my power caused me to pass out was when I first got it, back when I first met Brute and Skitter.

But after an hour and a half of fighting not to mention a very anime kind of transformation I was asleep the moment I hit the pillow. It was everything I could do not to fall asleep on the chopper over here. Then when we landed on the deck of The Spire I had helped Queen off and she directed me to the captain's quarters on the other side of the ship. We practically dragged each other all they way there and collapsed on the king sized bed before I passed out.

I was awake now, without any way of knowing how much time has passed. I was laying on top of the covers with Queen curled up into a ball next to me, her head resting on my shoulder.

The room we were in was… interesting for Queen. It reminded me of a luxury hotel room with rich red carpets, red silk bed sheets and pillows, comfortable looking couches, also red. There was a large flat screen tv in front of the bed across from us and a remote in arms reach to my right on a polished black nightstand. Not a room she would have been able to put together by herself, meaning she probably stole most of this stuff. Which was fine, being villains and all, but what really struck me was the 'why'. She didn't have to have all this, and I doubted it was all for herself. Was she hoping to share it with someone? Did she have other rooms like this, and if so, who was she expecting to have visit? Or was that it, that she built them in hopes that someone would visit?

The Spire didn't rock hardly at all, but I could hear waves slapping against the hold outside. If I hadn't spent some unnatural amount of time sleeping already I would have found it relaxing and a little hypnotic. As it was I was just a little restless, but unwilling to move while Queen's head rested on my shoulder.

I noticed that the back of her head had been patched up. Which meant she had probably woken up sometime before and got a quick fix to keep her from bleeding all over the place. The hole was perfectly square and located at the base of her skull, right before it met her neck. I could see metal plating inexpertly covering the spot. I would have to take her to see a doctor or a healing cape sometime soon.

Interestingly enough Queen's hair had an almost pleasant smell of strawberries and gasoline. How she pulled that off, I don't know. Most of her things don't even run on gasoline. Bonesaw had taken her power armour apart, leaving Queen in the skin tight black and pink jump suit she wore underneath. I had to say she pulled it off rather well. I wouldn't doubt it if she could give a few bloody noses of her own if she had my power.

I found my phone in the hidden pocket inside the sash that wrapped around my kimono. It was blinking with new messages from everyone. I quickly opened up to the most recent one from Skitter.

'Message me when you can, Spire's guns are keeping us away.' I quickly typed a message back.

'All good, just woke up. Queen got patch job but will need medic when she wakes up. The Nine?' I pressed send and checked the time. Five in the morning. I'd been asleep for almost thirteen hours. How much of that was overuse of my power and how much was the sleep I needed normally? Technically I didn't need sleep at all, my power could keep me awake indefinitely if I chose, but the hours would build up and then if I was ever in a situation like this again I would be asleep for days. My phone vibrated and I opened it up again.

'Gone quiet for the time. Jack left a note, come by to see. We have Panacea with us if you want to bring Queen.'

'Okee.' I sent the message and tossed the phone onto the bed with a sigh. Then I felt Queen stir a little and I looked over.

I was inches away from her wide green eyes. "Helllooo," she said in a sing-song voice. She sat up on the bed and stretched, allowing me a moment to get up too. It was only then I realized how stiff I was.

"You want pancakes?" Queen asked, jumping off the bed and onto the floor.

"Sure, but can you turn off the ship's guns so Brute can swing by and pick us up later." Queen's smile shrank a little but nodded anyway. She held up a device on her wrist and pressed a button before speaking into it.

"AI, turn off defensive guns for familiar signatures."

"R-r-right-z- Director Queen. I'll- I'll- I'll get rightzz on that." The AI voice was feminine in nature, but hard to tell between the glitching in the speech pattern.

"You sure that works right?" I asked. The last thing we needed was the AI running Queen's ship having a glitch, not with all this firepower. Queen nodded enthusiastically.

"It's a combat AI, not originally meant to take orders like that. I had to repurpose it." I gave her an odd look.

"You work with computers too?"

"Silly, even normal cars have dozens of computers in them. Not to mention planes and jets and stuff. My mechs are almost fifty percent computer! And don't forget that when tall walls didn't work they built short thick walls. Then when that failed they built negative walls, bunkers. And when that fails they make invisible walls. OoooOooo!" Queen waggled her fingers at me as she made the ghost noises. I assumed invisible walls meant code that protected software and things. Which meant Queen had a little bit Tinker power in hacking as well.

"So you can't build an AI yourself? Something that would work better?" Queen shook her head, her orange hair swinging back and forth across her head.

"Too difficult. This guy named Saint hired me to fight this huuuge Dragon suit once and he paid me with the AI to drive the ship. But I didn't like it so much, so I changed it. Then I copied it thousands of times for my other boats and planes and cars. Now I don't have to do anything but give them a job and they do it. Isn't great? Now I don't have to pilot things myself!"

"Sweet."

After Queen changed into a pink t-shirt and black jeans she started leading me downward through the ship. The metal walls of The Spire's wide hallways hummed with energy. I was impressed with everything happening on the inside of the ship. Hundreds of rooms dedicated to tasks, entirely managed by the ship's inner workings. We passed one door that was thicker than the others and had several locks to it. It was labelled as 'Raw Material Management'.

We entered a cafeteria that could easily seat fifty people with room to spare. Queen walked behind a counter meant to serve several people at once and went to a freezer. She pulled out two packages of frozen pancakes and placed them into a microwave. I sat down at a long table and waited for her. Queen worked like she had done this several hundred times before. Only she did the stacks at pancakes one at a time, like she didn't know how to do two.

Queen of the Castle exploded Troll.

I raised an eyebrow at Queen. She didn't seem to notice. She was cutting a square of butter when the next one came.

Queen of the Castle obliterated Troll.

Again, Queen didn't seem to notice.

Queen of the Castle sonic cannoned Troll into the next dimension.

Queen of the Castle drowned Troll.

Queen of the Castle decimated Troll.

Queen of the Castle dropped a building on Troll.

Troll killed himself out of spite.

Queen of the Castle ran Troll over.

Queen of the Castle bombed Troll.

Troll was turned to ash by Queen of the Castle.

Troll hit the ground too hard.

"Queen." I called. She looked up from where she was pouring syrup on the second stack of pancakes.

"What?"

"Mind letting Troll on to the ship before he kills someone besides himself?"

"Oh, I didn't even notice. AI, let Troll into the hold and direct him to mess hall A."

"R-rzt-Right! On it!" The notifications stopped and Queen set a stack of what was probably ten pancakes in front of me. She slid a glass of milk in front of me and flashed a smile at me before sticking her fork into her stack and carving out a huge bite.

"Mrhphed?" Queen asked with a mouth full of food.

"Uh, what?" Queen swallowed and repeated what she meant to say.

"I said I had a question to ask you."

"Alright, shoot."

"We're going to go after the Nine right? When we go and talk to Tattle today that what we're doing right?" I nodded. She had her normal upbeat attitude, but there was something off in her voice and her face look a little different. Was she nervous?

Queen took a breath and looked at me straight in the eye. "I want to capture Bonesaw. I want to hurt her really, really, badly." I studied her for a moment. She was clearly uncomfortable, but she looked a little sad, maybe a little disappointed behind the weak smile she was putting on.

"Sure." I stated simply. Her eyes widened as everything she had been feeling a second ago fled her face. Slowly, a smile crept across her face.

"Really, you mean it?"

"Of course, she hurt you. Why wouldn't I help you get revenge for that." Bonesaw had hurt my friend, I couldn't let that slide. But more than that, Queen was out of it when I had found her. Like she was in a trance or something. It gave me the distinct impression that it wasn't the first time Queen had been in a situation like that. I wouldn't say it out loud, but it think that maybe Bonesaw capturing her and tying her down may have struck a little too close to some bad experience Queen had. That made it far more terrible and there was no way I was going to not help Queen fix that. And if torturing the little psychopath does that, then so be it.

At that moment Troll strode in with his mask off so they could see his grin.

"Man, I thought I was in after I got underneath the boat, then bam! There are the torpedos." I rolled my eyes as he pulled up a seat and put his feet on the table.

"You better not have scratched the paint." Queen said archly. Troll snorted.

"Nah, you just have a few blood stains you might want to clean up." Queen nodded and took another enormous bite. Was she half done already? I hadn't even started.

I took a bite and was instantly surprised with the fluffiness. They were microwaved just the right amount of time to melt the butter and make the syrup warm without ruining the texture. Once I started eating them it was hard to stop.

"So, what you up to?" I asked Troll between mouthfuls.

"Ah, you know, chill out, maxing, relaxing all cool. Shooting some b-ball out by the school when-"

"I'm going to stop you right there."

"Oh, you're no fun."

"Troll, I'm an anime character and you're a video game character. Between the two of us, someone is getting copyrighted if I let you finish." I matched Troll's grin. "By the way, do you know what happened yesterday?" Troll thought for a moment.

"Brute killed Crawler, Legend and Purity annihilated Burnscar and me, which just left Siberian. Tattletale started telling everyone her theory on Siberian having a master that is projecting her. Now it's just them three and everyone's on edge waiting for their next move."

"You too?"

"Me? On edge?" Troll grinned again. "I'm excited. Can't wait for their next move, then the real fun starts." I took the last bite of my breakfast and pushed the plate forward. I was a little disappointed they were gone, they were good.

"And what about when we kill the Nine, or they escape the city? What's after that?" Troll raised an eyebrow.

"After? More fun of course. There are still plenty of tight wads in this city to screw with. But I think I'll set my sights on Accord next, that could occupy me for a whole year."

"Or you could stick around and join us for something more permanent." Troll shook his head.

"Teams and I don't go together so well, besides I get the most fun by myself." I raised an eyebrow.

"So you don't think you could have more fun if Queen let you use one of her turrets or cannons. Maybe a submarine or two." Queen jumped out of her seat and started clapping her hands excitedly.

"Why not a whole tank? Or battleship of your own?" She said excitedly. "We could fight each other! Have Aircraft carrier jousting! Play war! Giant Mech fights! No one has ever wanted to do that with me before!" Troll looked between them with a manic grin spreading across his face.

"You make a convincing argument." He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, unable to stop grinning at the ideas. "Damn, that sounds awesome. And think how freaked out the Protectorate is going to get when two battleships like these start going at it."

"Like this one?" Queen cackled. "No, I'm thinking bigger. This is just my casual ride. We want bigger, something that won't fit in the lake."

"Now you've got me all fired up!"

"And just think," I said, unable to stop a sly grin from spreading across my face. "A few more days to deal with the Nine, then a week or so for things to calm down, let people get into a routine. Then it will be just right to really screw with them." Troll's eyes narrowed, but his smile didn't leave his face.

"I see what you're trying to do, but I'm not disagreeing." Troll leaned back again. "Giant battleship war on the Protectorate's doorstep." He mused. "You think can get it going long enough for Scion to show up?"

"I don't see why a not," Queen answered.

"Then let's get started." Troll said, getting up out of his chair. I nodded and rose from my seat as well, pulling out my phone.

"I'll call Brute and-"

"No," Troll said, "I have a better idea."

I walked into Skitter's lair with Queen beside me. Panacea was standing with her arms crossed in the corner, looking none too happy with whatever arrangement they had set up. PillowMan was looking uncomfortable in the other corner, DeathKid was hovering skittishly around him. I felt a pang of guilt. I haven't given them a lot of attention since I brought them to Skitter not that long ago. Maybe I should take them on an outing later, get a better understanding of them. Lisa, Alec, Aisha, and Rachel were there too, sitting around the kitchen.

"What's up guys?" I asked as Queen and I stepped in. One of Rachel's dogs growled at me. Lisa waved Panacea over.

"This is the one I told you about." Panacea scowled and moved away from the wall. Queen tilted her head as Panacea reached out and touched her hand. I watched the patch on the back of her head move and the metal plate sink into her flesh and disappear inside. Queen looked confused and tapped the back of her head, the wound apparently completely gone.

"I made your skull grow around the metal you used to patch yourself with," Panacea said curtly with looking up at anyone. "It should be fine, but your brain is all screwed up."

"Thank you!" Queen chirped. Panacea scowled again.

"How do you mean?" Lisa asked her. Panacea drew away from Queen and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Her brain isn't working right, its functioning oddly in a way I can't even understand. It's like someone went in and start moving things around." Lisa frowned.

"Wait, wait, wait," I began with a spreading grin, "Do you not know what's going on with Queen's mind?" I could see Lisa's eye twitch.

"I have a few theories," she murmured with a frown. "My power doesn't work right on her, Panacea can't understand her, Dinah says the future gets cloudy around her and she can't see anything, Cherish's power shorts out when she tries to focus on her, and according to Skitter, Bonesaw's Biotinker powers didn't let her understand how Queen's mind functioned. So I think it's safe to say something else is at play here."

"That's me!" Queen said, throwing her arms into the air. We all looked at her for a moment.

"Hey, you got any magic touch left over for me?" I asked. I was beginning to think Panacea had a face twitch that made her scowl every time someone talked to her.

She touched my hand and I felt my stiffness fade and my other wounds close up. I quickly looked myself over and found everything perfect. I grinned as I looked back up and noticed Queen staring at me. I glanced back over at Lisa.

"So, what's going on? Anything important happening?" I asked her. Lisa glanced upwards as if she could see through the ceiling.

"Taylor and Brian are having an argument upstairs about helping you rescue Queen without backup and other things." I assumed by other things she meant Tenant.

"Well, that is going to make Troll's entrance a little awkward." Before anyone could ask me what I meant there was a massive crash from the floors above.

Troll hit Skitter's roof too hard.

"How did he even do that?" Aisha asked.

"I lent him a helicopter," Queen answered excitedly. "Troll and I are going to have a pirate battle!" Lisa looked her then at me.

"Oh no. That is not a good idea." I grinned wickedly as Lisa said it. Before she could protest further Taylor and Brian came down, Brian covered in white dust from where the ceiling caved in. Troll walked into the room a moment later, looking a little too smug with himself.

"You could have killed us," Brian said bluntly. Troll just grinned.

"Yeah, but I didn't." Brian gave a frustrated sigh and glared at me. It was impossible to reason with Troll, it was easier to just give up. But was he blaming me for Troll? No fair, I can't be responsible for Troll, its Troll!

"Are you guys ready to go?" Taylor asked, glancing at Queen and me.

"Go where?"

"We're meeting with the Travelers at Genesis' lair to interrogate Cherish and hope that we can move against the Nine." I suddenly remembered the text message Taylor had sent me earlier.

"Wait, didn't you say Jack delivered another message to everyone?" Instead of answering, Taylor pulled out a piece of paper and held it out to me. I took it and looked it over.

I as well as the other members of the Slaughterhouse Nine conceded our lost to you. However, in light of recent events and the interference of Legend and his assistance, we have decided our depart will end not with a whisper, but with a bang. I look forward to this final game and with give you forty-eight hours to prepare.

I look forward to it,

Jack

"Ominous," I said as I finished reading. Taylor nodded. "What's the plan?" Taylor frowned.

"They aren't giving us a choice of how to play this anymore. Either we let them do what is almost certainly Bonesaw's plague or we go on the offensive and hunt them down. The only thing we can do is be smart about how we hunt them." I nodded.

"So we are fighting the remainder of the Slaughterhouse Nine, only this time they have the home field advantage."

"Oh fuck all kinds of duck."


	18. Rolling on

"So, is this whole Brute and Genesis thing really happening?" Tsundere asked.

"I think so," Skitter answered her. Brute was already at Genesis' lair when Skitter and the others arrived. They were sitting a small table pushing into the corner of the room chatting with each other. Skitter observed their conversation passively. Brute didn't give much away, but he seemed generally happier. Skitter had come to know Brute to fit well into the strong silent type kind of roll. He rare spoke and mostly just waited around to receive orders. When he did speak it was brief and not much for social conversation. However, now he seemed just a small bit more eager to pursue conversation, but he wasn't very good at it simply because he didn't seem to understand social norms and would remind Jess she was beautiful every chance he got.

Genesis, or Jess as she didn't really wear a costume on her real body, seemed okay with it in part. Skitter imagined Sundancer might have been bashful under the praise, but Jess seemed to enjoy it. Even making subtle opening for him to do it again at some moments. The other Travelers were pretending not to notice.

Skitter turned her attention back to her own group. She had completed everyone's spider silk version of their costumes, barring Brute, Tsundere, PillowMan, and the other more recent additions. She wasn't sure if Queen would be sticking around after the Nine were dealt with and along with everyone else, she was hoping Troll would leave and never come back to Brockton Bay ever again.

With the help of Coil, the costumes were even more protective, as she began feeding her spiders water filled with carbon nanofibers which the spiders then worked into their silk. The result was something much stronger, and Tenant had decided it could stop common bullets even without the armour plating Skitter insisted on putting in.

Skitter's second mind had begun feeding her information about her surroundings. Regent and Imp were screwing around away from the rest of the group, talking, laughing, playing pranks on Grue. Something was going on between them. A relationship? A scary thought.

Tattletale was going to talk with Trickster. She couldn't tell what it was about, but Trickster didn't seem all the eager to talk to her about it.

Bitch hung out behind Skitter, not saying a word. She had accepted her new costume suspiciously, expected her to ask something in return. When Skitter told her she didn't want anything she liked to think she had moved a step towards friendship with her, but it was hard to tell with Bitch. She was also the most protected out of anyone, with the thick coat and armour plating underneath that she would be able to take most attacks.

Skitter's real focus was on the three hanging out to the side, Queen, Tsundere, and Troll. Troll was playing some game on a handheld device, high pitched blaster sound coming out as he mashed buttons. Tsundere was chatting idly with whoever she could. Sundancer, Trickster, Troll, and Ballistic in turn until they either left or got tired of talking to her. Queen hovered oddly close to Tsundere, slightly more nervous than she had been before. She didn't like talking to much of anyone except Tsundere. But whenever she did say something Tsundere's response made her seem slightly more relaxed. Skitter also noticed that Tsundere would glance back at Queen periodically.

'Is there something going on between them?'

"She suspects the same thing we think." Tenant answered her without hesitation. Skitter silently agreed.

'But what is she going to do about it? She is the only one who could." Tenant shrugged.

"What do you do with Bitch? You accommodate her and otherwise treat her like you would anyone else. I think the real question is going to be how you and everyone else deals with it." Queen wasn't like most people, clearly, but it isn't just her mental instability or at least not all of it. She was like Bitch, her power was over writing something in her mind. Only instead of social behaviors it is her mentality.

Queen never stopped building, it was always one project or another. It is what made her as scary as she is, because as far as anyone has been able to tell she spent every free moment working on some new machine. This is the closest anyone has ever been to Queen of the Castle and Tsundere was even closer, actually getting to see the inside of one of her war machines. That had been enough for Skitter and Tenant to deduce what was going on inside her mind.

Queen was insane. Stable for the most part, but insane. And there were so many different layers to her insanity that not even Tenant could give Skitter the ability to puzzle it all out. But at least one small part of it, however insignificant, was the fact that she built things like a country at war. She never stops and Skitter doubt she could if she wanted to. She always needed to be building, always needing innovation or sometimes just sheer numbers. She needed to be fast and resourceful. Leading to one of the three things that made Queen of the Castle the terrifying Mad Tinker.

He superhuman efficiency combined with unparalleled amounts of free time.

"Hey, Skitter?" Tsundere had moved next to Skitter and started leaning up against the wall, her left hand idly fondling the hilt of one of her katana's.

"Yes?"

"Do you think Bitch would give me one of her dogs?" Skitter blinked at her for a second.

"What?"

"Bitch. Her dogs. Me. Want one. I went by her territory just to say hi-"

"Was not expecting that," Tenant said.

"-and such and she had this adorable little puppy. I want it sooooo badly I'm going to die!"

"Then why don't you ask her?" Tsundere made a face.

"Because it's Bitch? I mean, you're the only one who actually gets along with her, even among her own hench people."

"Hench people?"

"You know what I mean." Skitter sighed.

"I don't know what to tell you, just ask her. Prove to her you'll take care of it and give it the attention it needs. By the way, what were you doing in Bitch's territory?" Tsundere's face lit up.

"Oh, you remember that time you and Tattletale suggested we all watch a few animes together so we would have a better idea of how my power works?"

"Yeah…"

"Well Bitch told me she wanted to watch more."

'What?'

"I don't know," Tenant responded, "For the first and probably the last time, I'm just as confused as you are."

"What did you watch?" Skitter asked slowly. Suddenly, Tsundere zipped out of sight briefly only to return a second later with Bitch in tow.

"Bitch, remember when I swung by your place a little bit back?" Bitch nodded. "Which one did you like the most?" Bitch thought for a moment.

"The one with weird guys in that prissy school." Tsundere clapped her hands together.

"Ouran High School Host Club! Eee! That's amazing!" Tsundere attempted to hug Bitch for whatever reason. Bitch looked more annoyed by it than anything.

"Yo, guys? You ready?" They turned and saw Tattletale waving them over to the table.

"Just a sec," Tsundere answered for them both. Tsundere turned to Skitter, suddenly much more serious. "I need to ask you something, or not really ask I guess but tell you about something."

"What is it?" Tsundere glanced back at Queen.

"Queen thinks that this conversation is going to lead her to Bonesaw. And I told her that if we found Bonesaw, she could have her."

"Have her?" Tsundere shrugged uncomfortable.

"I can only guess. Queen just said, 'I want to hurt her. A lot'. I think she was a little more bothered by her experience than she let on."

"Gee, what was your first clue?" Tenant said dryly. Skitter chose to ignore him.

"That sounds a lot like torture, Tsundere." Tsundere looked away and shrugged.

"Yeah. But it isn't like Bonesaw doesn't deserve it, considering all the people she has killed and tortured. Plus, I don't think Queen is going to like it if I don't at least help a little."

"So you think it is okay to torture someone just because they did."

"Well, yeah. And she didn't just torture someone, she torture multiple someones. Comes with that whole serial killer shtick. We could capture anyone of them and kill them on the spot and the hero's wouldn't bat an eye. If we gave Bonesaw the Queen for a weekend before offing her, what do we have to lose?" Skitter studied Tsundere's face a little bewildered. She honestly did not see a single thing wrong with what she just said, it made Skitter a little concerned for the future direction of The Undersiders.

"I'm going to have to agree." Tenant intoned. "Not a great person, has less than great things done to them. That's our legal system kicked up a notch."

'Not helping.' Tenant shrugged.

"Weren't you the one who just a minute ago was musing about how Queen should be handled? This is how, you give her a scratch behind the ears every now and then." Skitter sighed.

"We'll see," was all she said before moving to the table with the others. Coil had joined them while they were waiting. He gave a look to Trickster and all the Travelers moved to leave as everyone had discussed. Coil dialed up the phone, put it on speaker then passed it to Tattletale before backing up to oversee the exchange.

The phone clicked on and Cherish's voice came through. "Finally."

"Your two minutes start now," Tattletale informed her.

"Right, who to start with? Hm, how about you Tsundere? You know the rest of your team has conflicting feelings about you, think your weird, unstable, another Queen of the Castle waiting to happen." Skitter's looked up at Queen. She was staring at the phone in one of the few instances she wasn't smiling. "And it eats at you, not being included in the real team. Being there but not being apart of things, just kind of going along when they happened. Not to mention no knows you a masochist." All eyes went fell on Tsundere, she clearly wasn't happy but did her best to look uncaring. Skitter had read several book on body launge and how to cold read someone, but Tsundere wasn't giving much away in terms of what she was feeling. Tsundere shrugged.

"It's a low-key thing. I don't make a habit of it." Imp and Regent were whispering across the table. Skitter suddenly got the impression that Tsundere was going to have a bad time real soon, or maybe a good time depending on the information they just learned.

"Then maybe I should go to you Troll, your the second most interesting person here." Troll grinned before replacing his mask and jabbing the phone and saying,

"Do your worst, foul beast!"

"How many times did you kill yourself before you gave up?" Troll paused for a moment before responding.

"Oh you know, five or six or twenty to thirty times. You know, the normal amount."

"You know you're never going to be able to die. That things will be exactly like they were when you first started, you'll want to die be you never can."

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

"Forty-seconds." Tattletale cut in.

"I can feel your growing disappointment." Cherish continued. "You just keep doing what you love over and over again until you can't stand it anymore. Then you escalate it. But eventually you'll hit the ceiling and you'll run out of fun things to do. And then you'll just be stuck alone on one boring little planet."

"I wouldn't underestimate the human ability to create entertaining things."

There was a pause.

"Ah, damn."

"Your time is up." Tattletale said. "Now is where you tell us what we need to know?"

"Need? I don't think you need it. You've killed Burnscar, Shatterbird, and Crawler all by yourself. I think you'll be able to handle the next bit with or without me."

"Listen Cherish," Tsundere suddenly said, leaning toward the phone. "You're going honestly answer every question or I'm going to hurt you." Skitter could see Grue tense from across the table. Tattletale shot Tsundere a look, but didn't say anything.

"No, I don't think you will. You didn't make any friends by saying that, for one thing. But you honestly have no idea how you would go about torturing me. I suppose it would be kind of hard to know what other people would find uncomfortable when you find pain pleasurable." Tsundere leaned forward.

"You're right, I don't know how I would do it. And I know they would stop me. But there is someone here that they won't and can't stop. Queen?"

"Yeees Tsundere?" Queen asked in her sing song voice.

"Have you ever sieged a human body?" Queen's face lit up and clapped her hands together rapidly.

"I got a lot of idea's for that! It'll be so much fun!"

Cherish went silent for a long moment.

"What do you want to know?" She finally said, defeated. Tsundere leaned back in her seat with a satisfied smirk.

"We need to know about the countermeasure Bonesaw put into place." Tattletale said.

"A bacteria in the water that would rapidly spread and produce a miasma."

"And what would it do?"

"Kill everyone? Isn't that the point of things?" Skitter shook her head.

"No, Jack and Bonesaw are about art. Whatever they're planning, it will do more than just kill people. It will do something shocking, something that will horrify people in some capacity."

"Fine, it makes you forget who people are. You remember everything you've done with said person, but you can't connect a name to face or a face with an emotion or anything like that."

"Turning everyone against each other," Tattletale finished.

"Yeah. Can I go now, I have mind numbing boredom to get back to."

"I have one more question," Tsundere said. "Where is Bonesaw?"

"Hanging out a few blocks East of the crater, getting ready to deploy the plague. I would hurry if I were you, you only have a day left."

Tattletale snapped the phone shut to keep her or anyone else from saying anything more. Coil returned to the table with the Travelers a moment later. Grue turned to face Tsundere and his stared her down for a moment.

"We need to talk." Tsundere smiled weakly.

"This isn't going to be about me getting a pay raise, is it?"


	19. A new pair of shoes

"You can't keep doing this," Grue growled at me. He was standing directly in front of me with his arms crossed, his smoky tendrils that came out of his helmet were much larger than normal. Tattletale was leaning against a wall not that far away. Skitter was standing passively and patiently next to Grue. Apparently, I had ticked them both off. Regent was laying on a nearby bed, idly picking at the frayed edges of the blanket. I was also aware of Imp lurking behind me, ready to stick me with a thumb tack, probably to poke fun at that little tidbit Cherish had to share.

Damn it that made me want to punch her so badly. The moment she pointed it out I felt everyone staring at me like I was some freak. So I like the occasional scratch or whatever, big deal. But you mention masochism once and suddenly everyone thinks you're some weirdo that loves getting injured. Then don't even care about the different kinds of pains there are and the fact that I only enjoy one of them. And I would make the argument that anyone who likes to read books is their own kind of masochist because all the best books break your heart in some way.

At least Queen hadn't treated me like I was strange. She was standing by me as Grue and probably Skitter prepared to lecture me. We got Troll to go deliver a message to the Protectorate. He only agreed to go because he would get to blow his brains out all over Legend.

And they think I'm the weird one.

"We go in with a plan," Grue scolded me, "We are all on the same page and work with each other. You can't just hijack conversations for your own benefit and hope the others are on board with it!"

"I didn't do it for my own benefit," I retorted sorely. "I did it for Queen, to get back at Bonesaw for cutting her head open like she did." I felt Queen tensing a little behind me. "And I got Cherish talking which is exactly what you wanted! So what is the problem?" Grue sighed and pressed the palm of his hand to the face of his mask.

"The problem is that you don't tell anyone. Teams have leaders for a reason if you had just told us we would have helped you and it would have been much safer and we wouldn't have to scramble to catch up with you and play along. This isn't the first time either. This is the exact same thing that led to the Nine and everyone destroying that part of the city."

"I'm not going to apologize for going to help Queen!"

"Damn it Tsundere! That's not what I'm saying! We would have help you get Queen. If you had just come back, let us regroup and come up with a plan we could have gone to save Queen as a team. Then maybe we wouldn't have been partially responsible for tearing down part of the city."

"You wouldn't have come for me," Queen practically whispered. Grue fell silent and turned to Queen. Queen slowly met his eyes. "You wouldn't have come for me, no one ever comes back for me. To them I'm just the Mad Tinker, I might be good if I'm on your side but I'm too dangerous for people to go out of their way to save." They all fell silent.

She wasn't wrong. Queen is given a very tentative class A threat rating because of the part she played in The Coastal Skirmish a year ago. Before that Queen was labelled as a rogue and was put on a watch list, but then one of her aircraft carriers got too close to a city on the coast of California. I remember reading about it in a stack of files Skitter had given me about Queen. Legend approached the ship but found it empty. Any attempt to land on the ship was met with defensive fire from whatever AI was guiding the ship. When Legend attempt to get the ship to turn around with warning shots from his lasers the ship responded with offensive fire. As a result, Legend destroyed it and things went quite.

But a week later an armada of battleships appeared in the same area, and from what I read they were much larger than the one I got to see. For three days her ships tore up and down the California coast, destroying everything in its wake. The ships weapons killed the first parahuman response teams and managed to keep Legend at a distance for several hours until Alexandria appeared and assisted in taking down the ships. When the last one sunk people were on edge for a counter attack, but it never came. It was the first time Queen was ever called The Mad Tinker, and the message was clear. Destroy anything of hers and she returns the favour at three times the cost. It was the second of three things that made Queen terrifying and why the Protectorate is unwilling to put out a kill order.

And in that sense, Queen was right that it was unlikely that they would have returned for her. While Queen has been known to briefly work with others for money or resources, they always get rid of her as soon as they were done or tried to stab her in the back. It simply wasn't worth it, to have her running about in your area. She was too unstable to trust that she wouldn't screw you over down the road. And I was one-hundred percent sure that Coil would prioritize a hundred different things before sending us to save Queen.

At times like this, I almost think that Queen of the Castle was more sane than she let on.

"Look," Skitter said in a diplomatic tone. "This can't keep going on like this. We're not expecting you to apologize for going to help Queen when she need it-" I got the impression that was directed at Grue. "-But we need to know your willing to play ball. You are useful, a good addition to the team, but not if you're doing more harm than good. And if you can't fight with us, then you being on the team is not going to work."

I slumped where I was standing. I had been expecting this, I'd been afraid of it for a while, but as much as I tried to fix it, I had to look out for Queen first and it only drove me closer to this moment.

"You're kicking me out from the team," I stated bluntly. No point in beating around the bush, they had probably been tossing the idea around back and forth for awhile now.

"No," Skitter said. "I want you on the team, we want you. But you have to stop doing things your own way. You're going to make a mistake one day and it's going to bring the Protectorate down on our heads."

"So either I change the way I think and behave or I will be forced to leave the team?"

"There is a third option." Tattletale cut in. Skitter nodded in agreement immediately, but Grue hesitated.

"We talked about something while you were on Queen's ship," Tattletale continued. "Eventually, probably sometime soon, we are going to fight Coil." She let that sink in. It wouldn't be easy, Coil gave us everything and I would imagine he would have a tight grip on all of that. But he was kind of an ass hole, even if he pretended to be all slick and suave. If we were going to fight him, I'm all in.

"Which means what for me?" I asked slowly. Tattletale smiled slightly.

"We aren't going to be able to fight him directly and when we do, things are going to get dodgy for us. But it wouldn't be hard to make it look like we had a disagreement and you left the team with Queen and Troll. After that you can form your own rival team, maybe take over some territory in the city, and then you can fight Coil directly. And if we take him down, you can choose to either join us again or stay your own team." I frowned. It was clear what she was doing, she wanted to get several degrees of separation between the Undersiders and the three rogue elements The Undersiders were dealing with, myself included. And what she was saying made a lot of sense too. It would give me what I wanted and still gave them a reason to get rid of me.

I drew my eyebrows together and crossed my arms over my chest. "It will be my team entirely?" Tattletale nodded.

"So long as you can keep Queen and Troll on it."

"And when this is all over I can come back if I want?"

"Yup." I sighed. She already knew I would accept. Damn her and her power.

"Fine, I'll do it." Tattletale grinned.

"Great, as soon as we're finished with dealing with the Nine you should disappear to The Spire, we'll handle the rest." I nodded and turned to walk out the door, Queen following right behind me.

I hadn't ever considered running my own team. The idea of taking charge, leading people and getting them to trust me frankly didn't sound like something I could do or be good at. But I guess things were a little abnormal. I knew I wasn't any semblance of 'normal', but I didn't think that was bad. I wasn't better or worse, just more. In fact, a team with me, Troll, and Queen would be far from normal too, and we would be so much more than any other kind of team. We were more than human, parahumans. And we would be more than a normal team, a parateam. And we were far, far from anything normal. Paranormal.

Brute gave me a firm handshake before we left. We were splitting up into three teams again, only this time it would be just me and Queen with Troll so we could slip away as soon as this whole deal with the Nine was done. I got the impression the Brute was almost sad that I was leaving. We had some good times I guess. My only regret was not spending more time with PillowMan and his adorable little sister. He was still talking to Panacea when I left. I had to wonder if those two were becoming a thing or if that was just me being weird again. Either way, I hope those two found something good to do with themselves. I don't think PillowMan was happy working as a villain anyway, so maybe Panacea could get him into New Wave.

I left with a sigh and one more goodbye before Queenfieldand I climbed into the helicopter she had dropped Troll out of earlier today. We climb silently into it and took off without another word.

We sat in silence most of the way there, so I took the time to observe Queen's costume a bit closer up. She wasn't wearing the combat skirt today, she was still in the process of building a new one since Bonesaw destroyed the last one. So all she had on now was the skin tight black jumpsuit with glowing pink lights. She had miniature battery rams mounted on each arm and compartments that contained missiles on her lower back. She had a thin backpack looking device that covered her back, and it had a thruster in the bottom and wings that would extend when she needed to fly. There were a series of metal blades on her arm which I knew she could extend into hydraulic claws that could turn concrete into a pile of rubble. On her shoulders were mounted sonic cannons that could hit with enough force to send a person flying. Her legs also sported battering rams and her black and pink combat shoes could have wheels extend underneath her and become a pair of roller skates. The most interesting thing was the black metal railing that lined different area's all over her suit, allowing her to change her load out at will.

I also noticed that she was shorter than me. As obvious as it was, I kind of missed it even though we spent a lot of time around each other recently. Now that I thought about it, I didn't really know Troll's or anyone's height in relation to mine. It sounds like a small detail, easy to miss, but that was some basic stuff back when life was normal. It felt just a little surreal to learn I missed that.

She only came up to my shoulders if we both stood. Her bright orange hair was cut short at the base of her neck and curled slightly outward. If I ignored the very deadly machinery that surrounded her I could see she had a thin frame, something I could almost see as frail if I didn't know any better. Through her skin tight suit I could see she was well endowed, though not quite as large as I was. Maybe a size or two smaller. She had a thin waist and very toned legs, even more so than Skitter who I knew ran every day and and been packing on a lot of muscle recently.

I found Queen was staring at me with her wide green eyes. I suddenly realized something rather ironic. Neither Queen, nor I, nor Troll needed to wear a mask. None of us had civilian lives to return to. And while I did alter my face and Troll had his mask we didn't need to do that. I did it because the others wanted me too and because I might want to go out for coffee sometime. I think Troll does it because he likes the Lenny face on the front.

"Thanks for that back there." Queen said solemnly.

"For what?" I asked, a little surprised to hear he acting so seriously.

"For defending me I guess. You didn't have to come help me, no one else does, and you didn't have to defend yourself by saying you were only helping me. I haven't met anyone who would have done that for me before. They would have abandoned me to stay with standby team. That's how people do." I gave her a warm smile.

"Of course, it is how I do. And things will be better now, that we're by ourselves." Queen nodded, her smile faintly returning to her face.

"Do you really like pain." I groaned and leaned my head back against the seat.

"Yes? I don't know it's kind of hard to explain."

"We have a few minutes before we get there…" Queen trailed off. She was looking at me a little shyly. I sighed, I can't say no to the face she was giving me right now.

"I like sharp, stinging pain. Like getting a small cut or walking barefoot across gravel or legos."

"Are there other kinds of pain?"

"Yeah, you got your aching pain, searing pain, burning, shooting, ghost pains, cramps, and growing pains. All of them different, I just happen to find one specific kind marginally enjoyable." Queen grinned before looking out the window.

"Neat."

Great, now she thinks I'm weird too.

We swung down a few blocks away from the Protectorate headquarters and picked Troll up. He was having a good time messing with the Protectorate as he took pot shots with a sniper rifle at windows. Shooting coffee cups and cigarettes out of people's hands every time he had an open shot. I waved to the Wards as we came in and picked him up. I guess they were in charge of dealing with him as they evacuated the building.

I wasn't too worried, they wouldn't risk hitting one of Queen's machines. But I got an idea that a few of them were ready to mutiny and blow up the chopper even if it meant delaying Troll just a little bit more. Weld was the only one who didn't seem too annoyed with Troll. Probably had to deal with him in the past and got off easy. There were two ways encounters with Troll. Either you kill him enough times he gets bored and leaves or he doesn't stop until you give him what it is he wants. And since he always respawns in pristine condition, he doesn't need to sleep if he is dying constantly.

Queen flew us high above the city where eighteen more helicopters were waiting on stand by along with a few jump jets hovering with them. I checked my phone. Eight minutes until the plan get put into action. PillowMan, DeathKid, and Panacea left to go warn the New Wave and hopefully patch things up between them and Panacea. I let her know there was a place on my team if things didn't go well. I don't think she'll take me up on the offer.

With Troll alerting the Protectorate and Coil informing Hookwolf and Purity we should have all our ducks in a row soon. Queen was working a thermal camera and had turned on Jack and Bonesaw. I assumed Siberian was there too, but she appeared not to have a thermal signature or something like that.

Queen wanted fire bomb the area before they had a chance to respond, but the others had refused for good reason. They were hiding out in a heavily populated area and there was no way to completely evacuate it without them noticing. Instead, Skitters bugs were slowly directing people away as discreetly as possible while Legend lined up a shot far out of sight from the city. I could see members of the truce surrounding the area as the countdown continued.

My power had be working ever since we got in the chopper, over twenty minutes ago and I felt it building up some effect for what I was about to do. Then the timer went off and a spear of golden light exploded into view from over the horizon. Only right before struck something collided with it in mid air.

A massive transparent ethereal knife pushed against the beam, causing it to scatter in a dozen different directions before Legend cut it off. The instant the beam was gone red mist began to rise from the location Jack and the others were hiding out in. It was spreading faster than I would have thought it could of, racing across the water and enveloping the buildings.

"You know the plan Queen!" I called before grabbing Troll by the shirt collar and throwing him out of the chopper.

"Curse your suddenly but inevitable betrayal," he shouted at me as he tumbled towards the city below. A jumped out of the craft a moment later with a katana drawn.

"Sky Strike!" I shouted and instantly fell into a deadly plummet straight towards the earth below.

Troll hit the ground too hard.

The notification came just before I slammed into the concrete with a massive wave of force that caused a small crater in the pavement and created a massive bubble of clean air around me. Before the miasma could close around me again Queen's fleet of helicopters and jump jets descended just above the buildings in the area. The air blasting out from under the crafts cleared the rest of the air.

Hookwolf leapt into view as a massive metallic wolf made of moving hooks and blades. The instance he appeared Siberian leaped forward and tore through his leg. Clockblocker was carried on to the field by another one of the Protectorate's fliers and froze her in a metal cage.

I grinned because the really fight started now.


	20. Chase

Skitter ran through the streets, her third mind mapping out the path in front of her. Her second mind working with Tenant to make that path a reality with periodic releases of adrenaline and strategic releases of muscle resistant to allow her to jump higher and further when needed. Her first mind focused on her bugs as they sweep through several dozen buildings at a time, locating every last person in the area checking to make sure they weren't a trap or one of the remaining Nine. Her first mind was also laying cords of silk for her to grab and swing on when the path ahead required it. It was on of the few times she and Tenant were working at full power, and it was exhilarating.

The buildings blurred past so fast that she had to close her eyes to avoid getting disoriented. But that was fine, as her bugs provided her thousands of eyes to see from. Her body hummed with power and energy. It was almost addicting.

She was breathing in the miasma deeply as she ran, but Tenant negated the effects for her. It was spreading too fast to be slowed down at all, but as soon it reached New Wave Panacea would be working on some sort of antiviral or something like it. Until then anyone without a way of countering are to avoid coming in contact unless Queen's helicopters have cleared the area.

Her bugs heard and saw a jump jet firing its main cannon before an extended blade cut through it and then swept through others around it. Skitter ground to a halt and changed directions to head through the gap in the perimeter that Queen had established. But it appeared that the others had a similar idea.

Skitter immediately knew that Jack wouldn't be leaving through that gap. She continued running in the direction of the cleared smoke. She leapt through the air and kicked off the side of a building with a sudden burst of strength. She sailed through the air and found the cord she had draped from the landing gear of a helicopter and put all her weight into the swing. Her momentum carried her in a wide arc. She waited until she reached the optimal point in the swing before letting go, when she was parallel to the ground.

Skitter did a backflip through the air over a second helicopter before opening her arms and legs to slow her descent as much as possible before she grabbed the spider silk parachute her bugs carried to her. She felt Bonesaw enter her range before Jack did. He was heading far to Skitter's left while Bonesaw was heading to her right. Immediately Skitter made two giant arrows at both locations and felt everyone, including Queen's aircraft, move in their direction.

Siberian changed course behind Skitter and was running towards her as fast as she could. Tenant slowed time down slightly to give the third mind a moment to process the information and detail a new path.

Skitter let go of the parachute and grabbed on to another cord hung from a different helicopter and swung out of the way at the last second. Siberian landed on the ground with a crash and turn back toward Skitter as she rolled onto a roof. Siberian was in the air a second later was about to land on Skitter when she was suddenly assaulted with white pillows.

PillowMan darted into view with DeathKid on his back, an unending stream pillows firing like a machine gun from his hands. Space warped and contracted for a brief instance then snapped back to normal with Clockblocker suddenly appearing on the roof mid-jump. He began freezing the pillows one after another and then added a second layer so that Siberian was almost guaranteed to be trapped for ten minutes at least.

Tsundere landed on the roof a moment later. Her hair was a rich purple this time and her wide anime eyes shone with an unnatural bright red. She had a katana in her hand, a light purple colour glowing faintly on the blade as her power imbued it with whatever power it was this time.

"Where's Bonesaw?" She asked with a manic grin. Skitter wasted no time pointing her in the direction of Jack before spinning on her heels and running after Bonesaw.

She would be furious with her after this, but if all went right, Skitter wouldn't be on a team with her anymore and the conflict would only help their claim.

Bonesaw was running as fast as she could with a skinny man in tow behind her. Likely Siberian's master.

It took only a few seconds of Skitter running across the rooftops for her to reach their location.

Two silk cords found their way into Skitter's hands as she approached rapidly. A moment later she leapt into the air once more, sailing as high as her powerful legs could take her. Bonesaw and Siberian's master entered her line of sight for a moment before she fell. They were fifteen feet away from each other with two silk cords around their ankles, draped over the arm of the nearest street light, and the other ends gripped into the falling Skitter's hands.

True to form each of them were wrenched off their feet as the cords pull taunt. Skitter let go of the man's cord as soon as he was on the ground so more of her weight would go into disabling Bonesaw. The girl's lightweight sent her upward as the cord pivoted around the street light before Skitter let go of it and Bonesaw hit the ground head first.

Bonesaw jumped to her feet before Skitter anticipated and lashed out with some sort of red glowing knife. Skitter dodged it easily. She was fast, but nowhere near as skilled with a knife as Jack.

Skitter gripped her arm and twisted it before bring her elbow first into the joint where her elbow was then, in one fluid motion, brought her elbow back into Bonesaw's face. It didn't do any apparent damage, but it stunned her just enough for Skitter to strike her with an open palm and send her stumbling backwards.

Skitter head the click of a gun and turned to see Siberian's master pointing a shotgun at her. Instantly her perception of time slowed down as her third mind pulled the make and model out from her past memories of the books she read. A millisecond of real time later she had an approximated spread radius and was already moving forward when the master pulled the trigger.

Skitter had bent just enough to avoid most of the spread, though she took a bit into her arm which was caught by her new costume. Skitter moved in and punched him in a sensitive part of his armpit, causing his arm to freeze up momentarily. Just long enough for Skitter to pry the shotgun out of his hands. She spun it around and clubbed him in the face before turning and shooting Bonesaw's legs out from under her as she moved to strike Skitter while she had been preoccupied with Siberian's master.

A rare moment occurred where her second and third mind disagreed with her first. Her third mind had plotted a course where Skitter moved behind Siberian's master and snapped his neck with an abnormal amount of force Tenant and her second mind would produce. But Skitter's first mind hesitated in at the idea of killing another person for a moment. A blinding headache ensued.

Tenant quickly reached a compromise and soothed the headache. Skitter repositioned herself behind Siberian's master and locked his shotgun against his throat in such a way that she cut off his blood flow.

Suddenly Siberian appeared next to her and Skitter was forced to let go in order to avoid her attack. Skitter first and second mind slid into each other to form the now familiar hyper aware consciousness she had used before while her third mind continued to observe Siberian's trajectories and movements.

Skitter drew out the word 'Siberian' in the sky with her bugs as she dodged each of the projection's attacks. Between her mind's Skitter had enough information to move only just enough to avoid her.

For almost a minute Siberian attempted to strike Skitter only to for her to stay frustratingly out of reach, even when the projection leapt through the air. Then Skitter felt something glass strike her in the back.

'Bonesaw.' She thought was she went down, a faint burning sensation crawling over her back. Which with Tenant's pain block meant it was an agonizing burning sensation. Skitter managed to look up and see Glory Girl pass by and deliver an earth-shattering blow to Siberian before chasing after her. Siberian's master had disappeared, leaving her alone with Bonesaw.

"You're not the Skitter Jack had told us about," Bonesaw noted as she skipped overhead. She glanced upward to make sure there were no heroes coming immediately. "Your faster, smarter, stronger." Bonesaw grinned. "If your friends get here in the next few minutes the acid probably won't do any serious damage. Come on by if you're ever in need of a job, you exactly the kind of person Jack would love to have on the team." Bonesaw turned on her heels and began skipping away. Skitter clenched her jaw and tried to stand up. She saw Bonesaw stop and lift up a sewer grate and knew if she got into it they weren't going to be able to capture her again.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Tenant asked seriously. He wasn't judging or warning, but rather asking permission.

'Yes.' Skittered answered. Instantly another wave of adrenaline and various others flooded her bloodstream and she leapt to her feet. She felt her body become numb as Tenant took over the involuntary systems, much more seamless this time. It was still enough to feel her bones breaking her her muscles contracting around them. A second later she had Bonesaw in her grip and she was pulling on her hard. She didn't have another moment to think and Bonesaw let out a mangled cry as her right arm was ripped from her shoulder and Bonesaw went tumbling down the open man cover.

Skitter moved to chase her but found herself returning to her body. Tenant came into her vision and shook his head.

"Your muscles are shot, several bones are broken, and you have acid eating its way through your back. If you don't lay down in some water it's going to eat through something important and then we're both screwed. Not to mention Bonesaw got you with a dozen different mind altering substances when you grabbed her and I don't have the power to fight them off while I'm working to give you the ability to kill her."

'She is going to get away.'

"Yes, but if you chase her you will die. Not worth it. So just lay down in some water while I try to keep you from dying in the next three minutes." Tenant disappeared from view as he normally does when overworking himself. Skitter could almost imagine the feeling of him moving around inside her mind as he worked.

With a sigh Skitter laid in a pool of dirty water on the side of the room, the acid hissing as it made contact with it. "It's up to you guys now."


	21. An all new kind of race

Damn fucking decoys!

I kicked a building out of frustration and the whole thing collapsed. I could feel my rage and power working together to push for another transformation but it wouldn't do me anything good now. Jack was gone, Bonesaw and Siberian gone with the Dragon suits pursuing them. And to top it all off Skitter betrayed me just before I left the team, as if she wanted to make me as angry as possible.

I slammed my bokken against another building that didn't seem to be in good shape anyway. I was just so goddamn pissed at the moment that I wasn't even thinking about it until Miss Militia came up to me with a rifle pointed at me.

"I'm going to need you to stop." I rolled my eyes, I did not need this right now.

"Whatever, Queen? Take me out of here." Immediately a helicopter swooped down and a hook dangled below it. I grabbed it and out of spite, I flipped Miss Militia off as the helicopter lifted me into the air.

I waited as the helicopter dangled me above a jump jet that hovered next to the helicopter that Queen and Troll were in. I let go of the hook and skipped across the jet before landing gently inside the open door of the helicopter. Queen shut the door as I slid in my seat and immediately the sound of the helicopter blades faded. She had sound proofed the cabin.

"So," Troll said, "Now we go and nip a bit of territory for ourselves right? Get in on a bit of that warlord action?" I shook my head.

"No, they decided they are going to play hardball, so we'll play hardball. Queen?"

"Yeeees Tsundere?" She sang.

"Call in your weapons cache from New York and any free floating ship you have in the area. We're going to take the dock and you can strip all the ships for their material. Then we're going to take that one out of the way place, Trainyard. And that area we're our fight with the Nine destroyed almost everything, The Scar, we're taking that too. Queen, I want you to build something big where The Scar is. A military base or a runway or something. Something just enough to scar them without bringing everyone down on our heads." Queen grinned and threw her arms up in the air.

"Yay! Destruction!" Queen lifted her wrist to bring the wristband she used to communicate with the AI to her mouth. "AI, bring in the North Atlantic fleet and mobilize the New York motorcade. Deploy all Jaws of Vulcan onto the coast of the city." Queen looked extremely happy with herself.

"Jaws of Vulcan?" Troll asked out of mild curiosity. He was playing with a Rubix cube idly in his hands. As she always was when she got to talk about her machines, Queen was excited to the point she was clapping her hands together rapidly.

"Anti rubble machines! Rubble makes it hard for things to drive over a road so I made Jaws of Vulcan!" Troll shrugged, apparently satisfied with that description. I nodded, Queen wasn't the best at describing her machines past what their actual purpose was. It would be easier to wait and see.

"How long until everything gets here?" I asked her. Queen tapped her chin with her long slender fingers.

"Like in two or three hours? Just enough time for me to start sketching new ideas." Queen pressed a button behind her that I hadn't noticed before and a table rose out of the floor. On it was grape juice in a wine bottle, a few champagne glasses, and an old sketchbook that could only belong to a Tinker.

Queen grabbed the book and a black gel pen and began drawing erratically. Troll shrugged and drew a real bottle of wine out of his inventory and poured himself a glass. He held the bottle out to me.

"Want some? To celebrate our new found freedom from tightwads that only held us back?" I shrugged.

"Why the fuck not?" I took it and poured myself a glass. I turned and stared out the tinted windows of the chopper as we moved over the city. I saw the red mist and water clearing up as whatever Panacea made went through killing things and what not. Hero's were still buzzing around while they tried to find Jack and Bonesaw. But Jack had disappeared before I even got to him, not so much as one final confrontation before he fled the city. Skitter would be down there, probably celebrating some victory or cursing herself over some loss after she decided to chase after Bonesaw.

A glanced at Queen. We didn't get Bonesaw nor would we get her anytime soon, yet Queen happily scribbled in her sketch book. I might have thought she was over it or was okay if it weren't for the fact that the device she was sketching she was calling 'The Bonesaw Breaker'.

Oh well, we all deal with things in different ways.

I saw the fleet enter the bay an hour and a half later. Most were battleships larger than The Spire, but those along with the three aircraft carriers that came with it stayed out of The Bay, creating a thin blockade between themselves in the distance. However, in the bay a dozen small warships Queen labelled as Corvettes patrolled the area as Higgins boats delivered the Jaws of Vulcans onto the beaches.

The Jaws of Vulcan was the size of a semi-truck cab and had similar smokestacks billowing thick black smoke as they crawled across the ground at snail's speed. Each of the five Vulcans that were roaming around had four massive clawed arms that grabbed the wrecked ships and tore them apart before scooping them into the gaping 'jaw' of the machine. The jaw would open up to accept the scrap it was being fed and bright red light could be seen radiating out from the white hot core contained inside. Every twenty minutes or after eating a particularly large amount of scrap the Vulcan would stop and a back hatch would open up and deposit three cubes the size of small cars. One made of glass, one made of assorted metal, and one made of any material that wasn't made of the first two. The glass and metal cubes were carted off by other armoured vehicles and loaded onto Higgins boats before they would be transported elsewhere for whatever Queen decided to do with them.

The motorcade had appeared at roughly the same time, only I first saw them as the crossed over the crest of Captain's Hill and entered the Scar before immediately deploying two of their own Jaws of Vulcan. The motorcade didn't have any tanks, as Queen had said, but they had plenty of mounted artillery. Or at least, what I thought was artillery as the Tinker weapons made it hard to tell.

Apparently, Alexandria and Eidolon had come to Brockton Bay in response, but they had done anything yet. They're probably still trying to assess the situation and get they Protectorate's thinkers to decide how much a threat Queen was. But that was the third thing that made Queen terrifying to everyone.

One, Queen was incredibly efficient with an unparalleled amount of free time. She completed millions of dollars and year-long projects with approximately a few thousand dollars worth of effort and in just weeks.

Two, Queen was insane. You touch her ships and it's an act of war, and something she is more than willing to respond to. You do anything to her, say the wrong thing, threaten her, insult her, anything at all and you risked sending her on a rampage or something like it. There weren't a lot of people who knew Queen as well as I did now, so all they saw was The Mad Tinker who could crush entire cities if she wanted to.

But the final nail in the coffin, the third things that absolutely terrified every villain, hero, and otherwise was that somehow she was immune to almost all thinker powers and her tech doesn't make any sense to other Tinkers. We got a little insight to that with Dinah, she described Queen being like a cloud of fog that wrapped things near her into fog as well. She said that Troll and I had become hazy ever since we started working closer together, something Skitter was banking on it helping them fight Coil. Not to mention she might also have some effect on Coil's power, whatever it was considering no one bothered telling me.

But one thing was for sure, there was no way they were condemning Brockton Bay now. I had heard the idea getting tossed back and forth and Tattletale talking about plans around it. The Slaughterhouse Nine brought a new bout of destruction to the city, granted that was mostly our fault. Troll running around certainly didn't help the case. If I didn't know Coil better I would have said that before we made this move, the city was as good as condemned.

But there was no sane person on this planet that would hand Queen the city now that she had started applying the pressure. Not even me if I was in that position.

About forty minutes in the Vulcan's had cleared an area about the size of a parking lot, with blocks made of the more useless rubble stacked like a wall off to the side of the beginning of the territory.

After I had vented a little I calmed down and called off the takeover of Trainyard. I know Ballistic had his eyes set on it and there was the doll girl there too, Parian I think. Instead, I decided we should secure the area encircling the land surrounding the crater lake. That put Grue's territory to our North, Imp to our south, and Tattletale to our West. Strategically, it put in a bad spot since we're technically fighting now. But with Queen holding the coast and Captain's Hill it was more like they were sandwiched in between us. And if they try to take out central location it would be easy to move and counter-attack from another part of the territory.

It probably screwed them over a bit but I wasn't exactly in the mood to care.

Queen brought the helicopter down over our new territory around the crater. Several jump jets were hovering in a v-pattern around us to help stage our entrance. I notice The Spire was looming on the water nearby.

The three of us stepped out onto a building top above the crowd we had gathered. In the crowd, I could make out Assault and Battery, Glory Girl, and the Wards. A little more hero presence than I was anticipating, but I could roll with it. I shouldered a bokken and strode right up to the edge with Queen and Troll right behind me.

"Goooooood evening Brockton Bay!" I shouted over the crowd, my power making my voice carrying further. "I'm sure you're getting tired of hearing it, but we are claiming this area!" I grinned and raised my arms into the air. I suddenly noticed Eidolon hovering alone far above us and suddenly everything was put into perspective. One slip up here and it might be us vs Eidolon, and as much faith I had in my power I think there was only one outcome to that fight.

"We are a bit old fashioned if you care to call it that," I continued. "For now on you follow our rules and such. Past that you're free to do as you wish, we'll have a protection fee though. Like, ten bucks a month? Troll? Anything to add?" Troll stepped forward and said,

"If you are selling drugs, you better share." I nodded.

"Yeah, we'll put a tax on that. Ten percent of all illegal sales or activity go to us. Now, if any of you want some work, a warm place to sleep, good food and all that jazz, you may talk to Troll." Troll saluted comically before I pushed him over the edge of the building.

 **Troll fell from too high up.**

"He'll be back in a minute," I said. "Now, for clarification. No one, unless they are working for us may enter the parts of Captain's Hill that Queen is annexing. The coast is free for anyone, but don't interfere with Queen's machines. We're not like Skitter, we won't be giving you food or anything of the sort unless you work for us. You have to handle all that by yourself, all your get from us is a sense of security. If you're lucky." I grinned as wide as I could manage.

"Now, just to confuse you, I asked Queen of the Castle here to do this." I signalled to her and she gave a cute little laugh before pressing a button. Suddenly The Spire disappeared from view as it's cloaking measures kicked in. I knew that a few dozen of her armour cars and half of the ships disappeared as well. Enough to know they were there, but also too many invisible to let them rest easy.

"And with that, I'll bid you adieu." I gave a mock salute with my free hand and spun my bokken around in my hand. I turned to climb back into the helicopter when I paused and looked back and said,

"By the way, call us the Paranorms."


	22. Black ice

Things had gone quiet ever since Tsundere pulled her stunt a few days ago. Almost everyone was terrified to make a move, with only a few of the Chosen and Pure attempting to try anything. Only to get ejected from the city a few days later. The Chosen collapsed without Hookwolf and the Pure didn't seem interested in this city anymore once they had been beaten several times. Past that, things were quite.

All talk of condemning the city ended just as swiftly as Queen's machines appeared. Even though days have gone by Alexandria wasn't leaving the city as a countermeasure for Queen of the Castle in case things went bad.

In the meantime, Skitter had been addressing her territory. She very nearly got months of work set back with Burnscar and Shatterbird's attack. Ironically, she had avoided that crisis by people Tsundere was entirely responsible for bringing on to the team. And by an odd strike of luck, all those same people were gone now.

The construction had been going well for the most part. Most places had running water and electricity and most places were habitable again. The only real issue is dealing with the squatters that had taken to living in someone else's basement or otherwise. Easy enough to deal with, as Tattletale had been making sure that people had been moving out of the shelter she was running as soon as their home became available to them. That way she had plenty of spots still open for other people and enough room that the ones that wanted to be secluded can still do so. Even still there were a lot of people lurking in her territory, but she and Tenant had been slowly and surely clearing them out with well placed bee stings.

For the day, she had decided to spend her time with her father. Not as Skitter, but Taylor, clearly. She hadn't had a lot of moments as Taylor recently. With Tenant in her mind there was always a new project, a new skill to practice, a new book to read.

But today she was going to be Taylor, a little reminder that she Skitter wasn't the only part of her. Though, if she was being honest with herself she more than likely was doing it to reassure herself that Tenant wasn't doing something that had changed who she was.

Maybe she was being paranoid, considering she had been running with Tenant for more than a month now and he had done nothing but help during that. With sarcasm and rude comments sure, but only helping her nonetheless. However, maybe it was the fact he was in her mind and would be there until she died. Or how that her operating at such high capacities that there was no possible way for her to work at even half the strength and efficiency without him. And that latter meant he was very capable of exercising control over her. He hasn't, yet, and she had no reason to think he would based not just on the fact the resulting feelings toward him would lessen his control.

But there was the niggling thought burrowing in the back of her mind that Tenant was no doubt aware of. The seed of doubt planted by Brute not that long ago, that before Tenant was Tenant he was a man who tortured others to get them to have trigger events.

The effect wasn't pronounced, but during fights she felt like there was some untapped potential residing just out of reach. Something that she is unintentionally blocking herself from reaching because of that tiny bit of doubt in the back of her mind.

"You know you can just ask me about it instead of thinking it through yourself." Tenant said tiredly. "I can already hear most of the thoughts you have, so there is no real point in pretending like you don't know how to approach a subject."

'Then you already know that I know your answer and how the conversation turns out. Kind of ruining the point." Tenant sniffed.

"Fair enough, but what about those pesky moral question? If you're wondering what mental block you have that stops you from reaching that little bit of power you feel there then who better to ask than me?" His voice was heavily laced with sarcasm as he said it.

'You obviously want to dish out the dirt on me so get on with it.' Tenant rolled his eyes and lazily fell into a seat Taylor's father had pulled out from the table.

"As you already know it is because you heard Brute say I tortured people back in a life I don't even remember." Taylor mentally agreed. "But what you don't know is why you can't move past it. Because once again, feeling and morals have won out against logic and level thinking and somehow, though I can't even begin to imagine how, in that powerhouse of a mind you have you have equated me to that little girl Dinah." Taylor frowned. What he said made sense, and more frustratingly he would know better than she would. While she was generally self aware Tenant knew the finer points of what she was feeling without all the interference she experienced on the way through her own thought process. Tenant took the frustration as a sign to continue.

"In those twisted thoughts of yours, somehow my past crimes is equal to that of Coil's crime to Dinah. And the only way you could move past this mental block with me and grab that new power is to be able to dismiss my past crimes. Which, you might have earlier when we met. But now they only way you'll do that is if you can dismiss Dinah's situation as well. Which we both know you can't."

'And thus your entire point is pointless because you already know the outcome.'

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. You see, self awareness is a powerful tool. And knowing you, you'll probably stay up one night until you can rationalize a scenario where me being a bad person back when I was alive is forgivable but Dinah still isn't."

'Is that honestly what it is like to be in my mind?' Tenant waved at her dismissively.

"It is like that to be in anyone's mind. People are stupid and will do whatever they can to justify preconceived notions. Which is fine, because often times the struggle to do that only weakens a person's beliefs until logic eventually sways them.

"Although, you are much different than anyone else. Skitter, the girl with bug powers. You see, anyone may conceive that as a useless power. Because, after all, what are bugs going to do to the Endbringers or the Slaughterhouse Nine? But you," Tenant lifted the cane he carried today at Skitter, "found a way. That is what you do, you take small, fragile, bugs and turn them into an army capable of fighting Lung and other massive threats that more combat inclined capes couldn't even do. You don't search for ways to make the world fit they way you think like asshole's like Accord, instead you search for ways to make things work. And I happen to know you will do anything for a tactical advantage if you feel you really need it."

Tenant relaxed back into the chair, apparently satisfied with his work. Taylor had noticed that he rather enjoyed picking apart her mind on a semi regular basis. It was his way of entertaining himself after spending hours to days on end regulating her blood pressure and hormone levels.

Suddenly Taylor's dad sat in the chair Tenant had been occupying, forcing him to teleport his mental image back into a standing position nearby. He gave her father a sour look before he leaned up against a wall and silently twirled his cane.

"I could make you a bed if you…" Her father began then trailed off hopefully.

"I'm not staying," she said immediately. Her father's expression immediately fell, and was maybe a little hurt. "But I could come by again," Taylor said quickly. "Maybe we could go to the mayoral debate in a few days?" Her father smiled weakly at her.

"You promise you'll come?" Taylor hesitated.

"Yes." She finally said. Her father nodded, satisfied. Taylor raised the cup of tea her father had made to her lips and took a small sip. "Maybe after a time-" She was cut off by sirens going off.

Immediately both her and her father sprung to their feet. There was only two reason's that the city-wide sirens would be going off, and since the Leviathan already struck Brockton Bay that only left the other reason. They were evacuating the city because of a cape.

Taylor pulled out her phone and immediately saw a message from Lisa flash across her screen.

'We got trouble. Not Ts. Get ready, I'll txt you meeting place.' Taylor sent back a message and slid the phone back into her pocket before looking about at her father.

"I'm going to meet with Lisa!" She shouted over the noise. Her father frowned. Her reached out a hand and took hers in his.

"Be safe," he said before hurrying out the door with whatever he could grab on the way. Taylor nodded and started running out behind him, but turning to go the opposite direction. She felt her muscles move stiffly in her arm. Tenant was keeping them contracted tightly around the break she had experienced when she attacked Bonesaw a few days ago. He'll let it go when he feels it is completely healed.

As soon as Taylor entered her territory she could see what was approaching and it suddenly made sense. There was almost nothing that could make anyone condemn the city while Queen was in it, ready to stage a takeover. But there was at least one thing that could appear that would make them stage a city-wide evacuation. Something that would bring the Triumvirate to Brockton Bay once again, only this time to contain the threat, not fight it.

The Citadelian.

Skitter was in her costume in moments once she was in her lair. Charlotte and Sierra had already taken everyone out and locked it up by the time she got there. She relaxed a bit, this evacuation was going much faster than the similar one when the Leviathan appeared.

The Citadelian was still at least several hours out, but the construction was still large enough to be seen approaching over the horizon. Skitter noticed that all of Queen's machines had gone invisible or collected around other machines with large cloaking fields. Not a good sign.

Tattletale had sent her the location of a new meeting place since Skitter had gotten her costume. Skitter took a deep breath and headed in the direction.

Skitter was wearing her new costume, something that would certainly throw a few people off when they got to see her. She had followed Tenant's suggestion and sowed in fake breasts into the chest area to help hide her figure. She also put in padding around waist to further obscure it. She was already dreading Regent and Imp's reaction.

But more than that she had started applying the data she had gathered on Tinker devices she had studied and memorized with the help of Tenant. Inside of her costume was a thin metal frame layered over her skin meant to give support and let her hit things harder without doing damage to herself. On the outside of her suit were several telescoping blades reminiscent of Mannequin's tech. She had replaced the compartment she normally wore on her back for something that would have been larger if it weren't for the Tinker components that took up most of the space. If she needed to, the armour panel on her back could release a thin framework of wings with thin spider silk stretched across them to allow her to glide. The wingspan was almost twice the size of her body to allow her to do it and the mechanical arms that acted as a framework for the wings were very fragile. To avoid an incident in case someone broke her wings the compartment also included a spider silk parachute similar to the one she had used the other day.

They had tested the gliding mechanisms at night where it would harder for anyone to learn what they were doing. Tenant allowed for her muscles to allow her to jump high enough in the air to activate the wings and let her glide twenty or so feet. The parachute was a little more difficult. She and Tenant already knew several designs for conventional parachutes, but the difficulty was adapting it to the lighter material of spider silk and allowing her to have to mobility she might need if falling through the air. They had settled on a rectangular shaped chute made of two layers with several cords she could pull on if she needed to change the direction.

The reason she had decided to pull this suit out now was because if they were going to be fighting The Citadelian then most of the fighting would be done in the air.

She was still having a block between her and Tinker devices. While she could gain a fundamental understanding of every Tinker device she had come across besides Queen's, their power source was impossible to understand. Most power sources were sealed or too hot to get any of her bugs close enough. As a result, Skitter had to stick with the purely mechanical aspect of the devices. She built them to be almost like clockwork devices and worked almost completely mechanically. She stripped batteries whenever she could, and like watches, the clockwork mechanisms took that power a long way, but it wasn't efficient and was quickly becoming costly.

Brute had joined with her not long after she had set out from her lair. He gave a quick look over and gave her an odd look. But he didn't say anything as he held out his hand for Skitter to take. She gripped it with her unbroken arm and half a second later they were in the air.

Brute wasted no time leaping from building to building to get the meeting location, the landing pad Queen had built on The Scar. It wasn't hard to see Queen had been hard at work developing the area. What was left of The Scar had been flattened and consumed by her Vulcan's while other machines began constructing runways for planes and other craft. The entire area had two layers of fences blocking off the area. One fence Queen put up, the other the city did.

The Travelers and the rest of The Undersiders were gathered in a circle on the helipad Tsundere had designated as the meeting area. Coil was there with a few dozen mercenaries. The complete opposite of what he normally had. But then again, nobody treated Queen the same way they treated their other enemies unless they wanted to lose.

The Paranorms were there to greet Skitter as soon as she landed with Brute, Tsundere wrapping her in an excited hung. Skitter guessed the name was fitting, she didn't know of any other rival supervillain teams that would greet her with a hug.

"Skitter! You've become a Tinker!" Queen cheered. She was in a much heavier combat power armour this time, with none of the skin tight suit underneath showing.

Skitter was surprised just how much they have changed in a few days. Tsundere was no longer wearing a kimono, instead she was wearing a bright red Chinese qipao. Her hair was a dark shade of electric blue with sapphire eyes. According to recent reports, her power has also been changing the colour of her clothing on occasion.

Troll was more or less the same but today he decided to abandon his normal costume in favour a French aristocrat costume that didn't even mask his face. Skitter didn't even want to know why he just happened to have it or why he decided to wear it today. More than likely it was just to screw with them.

But the most surprising was the apparent fourth member of their team. Just behind Tsundere, still and silent. A constant reminder of the dark aspect of their team. It hard to tell where he was looking through the large pitch black lenses on his mask that seemed to take in everything. His mask was bird like in fashion, a mask anyone who knew their history could tell you was worn by doctors through the Black Plague. The rest of his head was shaded from view with a wide brimmed circular hat.

Out of habit she sized him up. He was about as tall as she was, but his hat made it hard to get a view of his neck and head. He had thin shoulders and long, almost unnatural, arms as well as long legs. Matching his black mask and hat he wore a long black tail coat that hung barely above the ground. Black pants, black shoes, black vest, black undershirt. Not a speck of any other colour to him except in the weapon he carried. A long silver scythe that had the distinctive red edge that all of Queen's armour piercing swords carried. The crescent of the scythe held above his head like a sword dangling from the string.

Skitter didn't know much about him, only that he appeared as a new Paranorm on the second day of Tsundere's take over. She, and likely the others as well, only knew him by his name. Reaper.

"She has grown too." Tsundere said with a grin before poking Skitter in the fake breast. Skitter looked at her flatly.

"Don't do that." Tsundere gave her a suggestive grin.

"If you were jealous you could have just said so."

"Tsundere, we have a much bigger problem to be talking about." Tsundere rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, when did you become boring?" Skitter didn't dignify that with a response and instead joined Grue and Tattletale on the left side of the helipad while Coil took the bottom centre and the Travelers took the right side. Tsundere, Queen, Troll, and now Reaper all stepped up the to the upper centre. Skitter wasn't unaware of the parallel between Brute looming behind her and Reaper hovering behind Tsundere.

'Is she trying to imply that Reaper is her counter to Brute?'

"You think she is that intelligent?" Tenant asked her in response. "I doubt she looked into that much, I doubt she really considers you an enemy in anything but friendly sense." Skitter didn't reply.

"Soooo….." Tsundere began. "You guys want to keep staring each other down or are we going to talk about the threat coming to kill us all?"

"To be fair," Coil said, "Brigadier is only coming to kill Queen of the Castle." There were nods of from the Travelers. Imp and Regent looked at each other and Grue leaned over so Tattletale could whisper in his ear. Even Tsundere looked a little confused.

"We all need to get on the same page," Skitter stated. "Share what we know, so we're all on the same page." Coil looked at Skitter with a nod.

"I'm inclined to agree. Tattletale? Would you like to start us off?" Tattletale nodded and took a step forward.

"After the Coastal Skirmish, the Protectorate began searching for a way to fight Queen and her machines." Queen grinned and waved as everyone looked at her. "Eventually they found Brigadier, the fortress Tinker." Everyone fell silent as that sunk in. A fortress Tinker pitted against the siege Tinker, ironic and a little nerve racking at the same time.

"But he must have been too much of a loose cannon because they kicked him out." Tattletale continued.

"Loose canon how?" Trickster asked from across the pad, his arms crossed.

"As in he was willing to do anything the destroy Queen and Queen was, well, Queen was Queen."

"That's me!" She pumped a fist in the air. Most of them looked at her flatly.

"But there is still a standing hope that Brigadier will kill Queen of the Castle, which is why all the heroes are standing outside of the city in hopes of containing the fight without interfering otherwise." Skitter nodded. She had memorized all the information on Brigadier available on Parahumans Online, so most of this was familiar. The only thing she didn't know about was…

"The Citadelian," she said, "What do we know about it." Tattletale glanced at Skitter then back to the group.

"Not enough. I know it is roughly the size of the city and can float hundreds of feet above the ground if Brigadier commands it to. The thrusters and anti-gravity panels you'll see are all powered by at least a hundred compact fusion reactors he has stored in The Citadelian. The issue is that it isn't that hard to take them out. Only if you do you either drop The Citadelian on top of the city or cause the fusion reactors to fail. And you don't want that."

"Indeed," Coil said. "Which is why we're going to have to refer to Queen on how to defeat him."

"Oh, umm…" Queen tapped on her chin for a moment. "He is like those Endbringer thingys, if you hurt him enough he'll leave." Not exactly reassuring, but it made sense.

"But what kind of defences are we going up against?" Skitter froze for a moment. Coil never needed to ask two questions to get the answer he wanted.

'He power isn't working.' Skitter thought. Tenant agreed with her silently.

That was massively important. If Queen was a blind spot in Coil's power then their plan to fight him was all that more feasible. Tattletale noticed it too, she was sure, and with that small conformational suddenly a wide variety of possibilities opened up.

Possibilities that would wait until they were done fighting Brigadier.

"Well, the first time we fought I exhausted his power banks by shooting his energy fields enough times that he couldn't keep it up anymore." Queen mused. "But he fixed that the second time around."

"What energy fields?" Tattletale asked her. Queen again paused to think.

"Well, he has this magnetic thingamajig that redirects any shells smaller than a helicopter and totally repels anything smaller than a monster truck wheel. Then there is like a electo-something or other that fries my systems if I don't insulate them. Then there is the sound thing that shatters glass and computer chips and causes steel to hum and bend. After that, he has laser anti-missile systems, heat beams, anti-aircraft weapons, reactive armour, thunderbolts, moving walls, acidic dust storms, repair drones, and whatever he added when I beat him last time."

There was a pause.

"You beat that?" Tsundere asked incredulously. Queen nodded excitedly.

"Yeah, but only because he caught me off guard so I didn't have any time to prepare, otherwise I would have killed him."

"That sounds utterly impossible." Sundancer murmured just loud enough to hear.

"If it was just you guys maybe," Queen said. "But you guys have me!" Tsundere nodded and took a step forward.

"Yeah guys, don't forget that this is the first time Queen has ever had help and she still won agaist him before." Skitter nodded and said.

"We have the advantage of him being used to it being Queen and Queen alone. We should press that advantage as much as we can. Queen? Are you willing to listen to our suggestions?" Queen's eyes narrowed at her and she pursed her lips. She opened her mouth to say something when Tsundere put a hand on her shoulder and Queen stopped. She looked back and Tsundere nodded to her before stepping in front of her, almost as if to put herself between Queen and the rest of them.

"We can at least listen." She answered for Queen. Skitter turned to look at Grue and Tattletale, silently prompting them. Tattletale got the message immediately and began speaking.

"It would help if you gave a list of all the machines you have in the area. Then we can talk about strategy and what might work." Queen crossed her arms stuck her tongue out at Tattletale. Tsundere rolled her eyes.

"Tattletale, I don't think things are going to work out if you are going to try to tell her how to siege a fortress." Tattletale seemed taken aback, a rare thing. The Travelers noticed it too and started staring at Tattletale. She frowned and tried again.

"Right, but maybe you can tell me how you normally fight Brigadier and what has worked in the past? Then maybe I can take what you tell me and apply it to the rest of us. That way you can command your machines effectively and I can instruct the others on what they can do?" Queen looked away and shrugged dismissively.

"Queen," Tsundere said, "What is normally the first thing you do when The Citadelian starts coming for you?"

"I attack and attack hard." She said simply. "He makes it hard to fight anyway but directly, so I just do my best to overpower him. Sometimes it works, other time it doesn't. But it's always fun!" Queen's disposition towards Tattletale flipped on a dime and she jumped up into the air to show how excited she was. "Do you know how rare it is I get to prepare like this?! This is going to be the best battle for survival ever!" Tsundere let out a strangled sigh and an anime teardrop slid down her head before disappearing.

"So when do you attack?" Tattletale asked. Queen lifted up her wrist and gazed at the band.

"That's funny, the transcontinental osmium kinetic strike should have struck fifteen sec-" She was when hundreds of red-hot projectiles descended from the sky and began exploding against The Citadelian in the distance with no sign of slowing down anytime soon.

"Oh, there it is!" Queen sang.


	23. Running agaist machines

Osmium, the most dense naturally occurring material on the planet fired from California, sent nearly into orbit, and striking The Citadelian all the way on the other side of the United States, and the floating fortress tanks the shots like they were nothing. To be fair, there was a green force field that Queen was unaware of that was shattered instantly on impact, but there was no other damage to the glistening silver structure of fortress.

Dozens of invisible ships began opening fire with every weapon they had, turning the air between them and the bottom of the fortress into a blaze of red, blue, and green light. The fortress was slowly reconstructing the green bubble shield from the top and bottom of the fortress. Most of the shots collided with the growing wall but nowhere portion arced over before they were cut off. The red bolts of light immediately flew back the other way while the blue bolts struck an invisible barrier and dissipated outward until it was completely gone. The green bolts of energy takes another invisible barrier and defences immediately.

Three different types of ammo, three perfect counters. It struck me then just what the relationship between the two of them was. They have clashed several times over ever since Brigadier came onto the scene and each has lost some and won some. But each has learned and come out better for it each time. They were the perfect counters to each other and each other's greatest weakness.

Only Queen had allies this time, and I was suddenly less sure that would be an advantage as Skitter said. While we were an unknown, we also hand no idea what we were fighting unlike Queen. Us being helpful at all was solely dependant on Tattletale being able to direct us well enough to get through the defenses. Queen might have been able to do it, but no one would listen to The Mad Tinker. Not to mention I don't know if her ability to siege extended to things she didn't build.

I glanced back at Tattletale, Skitter, Grue, and Queen. It was one of the few moments I got to see Tattletale frustrated. She was still attempting to use her power on Queen and was constantly coming to all the wrong conclusions. I noticed Skitter was much better at talking to Queen, but not great. They all kept assuming there was some logic to talking to her. And even if they recognized she wasn't all there in the head they continued to search for some pattern to it. I don't know why they couldn't just get that only thing that stays the same with Queen is what she wants and what she doesn't.

I turned my attention back to the coast where The Citadelian had gotten much closer in the last hour. I could make hour the finer details on the flying fortress now. The first thing that popped into my mind was 'symmetry'. Everything from the fortress on top to the dozens of thrusters and antigravity panels was perfectly symmetrical with itself. The second thing I noticed that while Queen often put comfort and the way things looked as an afterthought to the function of a weapon, Brigadier very clearly put that at near equal importance of his constructions. I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was the whole fortress reminded me of but it seemed to take inspiration from all the greatest civilizations I could think of off the top of my head. I could see Rome, Egypt, modern skyscrapers, Venice, Ancient China and Japan, and a few other things I didn't know about. But for all the grandeur that was put into the design of the floating city, I knew there was some practical reason for every last building and structure.

"Tsundere." I turned and saw Tattletale standing behind me. "Can you take over, I feel as though I'll be more help if I'm studying The Citadelian." I nodded and turned around to join the other three at the table Queen had set out. We were meeting on the deck of The Spire. Queen refused to let them enter the inside. Instead, she brought a small wooden table out to the deck. Even still I only think she let them this close was because I said it was okay.

"I keep telling you," I heard Queen speaking as I approached. She looked a little put out with the other two. "The only way to fight Brigadier is to strike with an overwhelming amount of brute force."

"Then I punch it." Brute suddenly said. I had gotten so used to the sight of him hanging around Skitter I had completely glossed over the fact he was even there.

"That is not what I meant!" Queen shouted in frustration. Brute shrugged.

"Then I'll punch it harder."

"Look," Skitter said, "I'm just trying to tell you your options. If you brute force your way into there then he likely has something in place to counter you. So-"

"Then I'll counter him back!" Queen snapped. "That is how we do things, who we have always do things and I still come out on top most of the time!" Queen paused and thought about it. "Okay, more like half of the time. But still!" Grue pressed a hand to his mask and let out a sigh.

"Queen, we are telling you we understand that but we need to explore other options now. You have more than just your machines on hand."

"Which opens up the opportunity to be more flexible." Skitter finished. Queen scowled at her and slumped back in her chair with her arms crossed. "If you can push through the initial defences then you can drop us off in the fortress and we can fight our way to the weapon systems or to Brigadier himself."

"It won't work." Queen hissed. "He would eat up people like you for breakfast and spit you back out because you taste funny. I tried being clever in the beginning but he is too smart for that. The walls of his city move! He would keep you away from the guns for hours while leading you into death trap after death trap. I can't hack his systems and his detection tech is almost equal to my cloaking mechanisms. I couldn't drop you into the city if I wanted to, even if it would work."

"Hey Queen," I said sitting down next to her. She gave me a glare as I inserted myself into the conversation. "What is it you want to do to The Citadelian?" Queen blinked. Her previous anger wiped away as she got distracted with another question.

"Destroy it of course!"

"And what about Brigadier?"

"Beat him, then kill him."

"But going down the brute force method has only let you win battles before right? You have never even come close to winning this war have you?" Queen frowned and began to slouch slightly.

"I guess so…" I grinned at her.

"So what if you beat him in another way?" Queen raised her head to look at me straight in the eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, what if at first you put Troll inside a shell big enough to get him into the fortress. Then he would keep respawning all over the place as he made his way to Brigadier's HQ." Queen threw her head back and laughed once.

"That would be hilarious." My grin widened, I was just getting started.

"Then how about instead of doing as much damage as possible you split his attention as much as possible by attacking from multiple fronts at once instead of barreling through one location." Queen frowned at that.

"If I don't do enough damage then he won't leave and I'll just run out of craft."

"Ah, but there is the catch. What if you deployed all the Jaws of Vulcan you own onto The Citadelian in one heavily damaged area and start stealing his own fortress from him!" Queen began giggling at the very idea. "You just have to let these guys help you and you can catch him completely off guard, forcing him to change his tactics right as you switch back to and all out assault on one side."

"I don't know…" Queen glanced at the other two, who were watching me work. She was nervous, unsure of how to work with other people. But, I guess that was my job wasn't it?

"Look, I'll make it simple." I started with a smile. "You start working on getting a way to get Troll in, I'll make a plan with these guys. All you'll have to do is command your machines and I'll handle the rest."

"Okay Tsu." Queen sang in a new cheery tone. She slipped off her stool and began skipping toward the control tower to start issuing orders.

"Almost an hour and a half of me, Skitter, and Tattletale," Grue said slowly, "and we get no where. Yet it take you five minutes to come up with something that lets us help her." I shrugged.

"What can I say? Sometimes you just got to know how to speak in the right kind of crazy." I suddenly heard Tattletale give a mangled cry of frustration off to the side. Was that because of what I said? "Anyway, what were you guys planning?" Skitter and Grue looked at each other before responding.

"Based on the kinds of defences Queen described I think a few of our powers can make it through." Skitter told me. "If we get Grue up high enough we could pour darkness all over his place. Sundancer is going to be testing to see if her suns can make it through. Brute is going to be doing what he does best." Brute grunted confirmation behind her. "Tattletale and I are going to hang back for the fight, keep an eye on things. Trickster said he might be able to switch those discarded blocks of rubble with some of the weapon systems once he has them all in view. Genesis is working on pulling a massive body together deep underneath the water. Should be ready by the time The Citadelian is over the bay." They way she presented it all factually and point by point kind of creeped me out a little. I wasn't sure why, it just seemed a little off.

"Okay, but we're going to strike all at once right? To catch him completely off guard?"

"Of course." I nodded.

"Then one more thing. Reaper needs to get in contact with the fortress, you think you can get Trickster to send him there?" Skitter's head tilted a little.

"What can Reaper do that won't get him obliterated in seconds." I opened my mouth to answer but immediately shut it. I quirked it to the side as I thought for a moment, then I tapped my heel against the deck three times.

Reaper rose wordlessly out of the surface of The Spire, his scythe held behind in a mysterious fashion. He rose a few inches off the surface of the ship before sinking back down, his right leg bent a little so one foot touched solidly against the surface ship a second before the other one.

"Maybe it would be easier if Tattletale were to tell you," I said once Reaper was finished making his dramatic entrance. Apparently hearing me Tattletale strode back over and looked Reaper over.

Reaper made a motion with one hand underneath the nose of his mask, followed by a series of hand movements that moved too fast for me to really understand. Tattletale watched him as he did so and waited till he was finished before filling us in.

"He said he enters a 'ghost mode', similar to Shadow Stalker if I had to guess, and then he can possess any machine." Reaper made another set of hand movements. "He said there hasn't been any limit on the size of a machine before but he hadn't tried something of this scale before. He also says that the longer he is in a machine the longer it would take for his human body to reconfigure."

"An anti-Tinker cape." Grue said. I nodded. It had been something of a challenge getting Reaper after we found him living inside of one of Queen's armoured cars. He didn't speak at all so he had to write things down and use simple hand motions with us. But once I asked him to join us he shrugged like he wasn't doing anything else that mattered and followed us back to The Spire.

At that moment Queen came skipping back into view, only now she had several stacks of plates with pancakes balanced precariously in one hand and a fresh bottle of syrup in the other.

"Whatever you do, don't refuse the pancakes," I whispered quickly. Before any of them had a chance to ask me what I meant Queen set plates in front of everyone. Each one some how had the perfect amount of butter that had only just started to melt. She poured syrup all over hers and passed it to Grue.

"I'm not really all that-" He stopped when Queen, myself, and Reaper shot him a hard look. Without another word, he began adding syrup to his pancakes.

One does not simply refuse Queen's pancakes.

Once I was done eating I let Queen know what we had decided and that all she needed to do was spare a few helicopters to put Grue in place and give Skitter a proper vantage point. After that, a jump jet came to take her to the bay to wait for The Citadelian to arrive in what would likely be at least one more hour.

With Troll put where Queen wanted him, there was nothing left for me to do but focus my power. Reaper stood silently next to me, his scythe growing slightly longer as my power began to seep into it. We hadn't had much of a chance to fight together, and I would imagine that in the future his place in fights might solely be in one of Queen' machines. But for now he was with me.

Within my power's sphere of influence, people were mere shadows to what I normally saw. But as the hour ticked on past and The Citadelian loomed ever closer my mental image of Reaper began to clear up. He was probably the first person to spend as much time in my field of effect as I was. I didn't know if it would work as well on others as it does on me, but I guess we'll see soon.

I suppose I had come to think of myself kind of like Lung, where the longer the battle went on the stronger I got. To some degree that was true, as I would get more durable, be able to lose more blood, and can jump well enough I might as well fly. But a lot of things depended on interrupting fights with dialogue with the enemy or getting so intensely serious that I could trigger a transformation. Put simply, I get good over time but I get even better faster in a real fight. I just didn't know how that applied to third parties like Reaper.

My power is all about experimenting to learn what worked and what didn't work. Even now I'm not completely sure I even have half of the wide breadth of my power figured out. There are active effects like the speed, strength, and durability. But one thing I noticed was a general passive effect that was always working that I simply called 'Drama'.

I think the best example was when Bonesaw hit me with the paralyzing powder. I shouldn't have been able to move or speak at all. However, my power let me struggle, shake, and speak just a little. Not enough to counter to paralysis, but enough for some dramatic effect. There have been other moments where I noticed this, one of which happening just a little bit ago when Queen brought out the pancakes. Things had been exaggerated ever so slightly, just enough to be comical if anyone was paying close attention.

I sighed. While my power was awesome in so many ways sometimes it was just frustrating how little I knew about it.

My phone started ringing right as The Citdelian entered the bay and began to cast its shadow over buildings as it moved a bit closer. The roar of gunfire from Queen's machines was deafening.

I picked up the phone and heard Tattletale's voice on the other end. "Tsundere, if you start jumping around the outer edges of the place then the anti missile systems will probably start targeting you."

"Right, are there any weak points?"

"No, or at least, not yet. Once the magnetic barrier is down we can drop Brute in, but we're not going to be able to really hit it until the EMP barrier fails."

"Kay, so when do we go?"

"As soon as Queen gives the-" Suddenly, where there was several dozen ships firing on The Citadelian before, one hundred more opened fire from where they had been hidden. From the city hundreds to maybe even a thousands of artillery cannons fired in wide arcing shots. The air turned a mix of bright colours as lead, steel, electricity, sound, and other forms of energy blasts screamed through the air and started raining against the invisible barriers of The Citadelian.

Above me the sun began to flicker rapidly. I turned and saw several hundred fighter jets, helicopters, and bomber planes with dozen variations of each blotting out the sun as they sped forward. Missiles, mounted cannons, and machine gun fire began tearing through the sky.

The Citadelian, firing back. Antiaircraft shells exploding in midair as Queen's planes performed invasive maneuvers and deployed flares and smokescreens. Several thousand flak guns mounted all around the edges of the floating city-fortress began bombarding Brockton Bay. Red lasers with the thickness larger than my entire body began flashing through the air, cutting missiles out of the sky and leaving black scorch marks over every surface they crossed. Counter missiles began arcing through the air leaving smoke trails in their wake. As bomber planes began dropping dozen of bombs each from overhead large arc of blue lighting reached out and struck every last one before they got too close

For about thirty intense seconds there wasn't any direction you could look that wouldn't be completely swamped with bullets, missiles, lasers, flares, smoke, explosions, wreckage, lighting, or vehicles. Anything I might have been able to hear was drowned out by the sound of hundreds of thousands of Tinker weapons firing.

Then Queen's fleet of aircraft finished making their pass and the exchange of bullets in the air ceased for a moment as the planes went wide to turn back around. As The Citadelian moved, edging closer and closer to be directly overhead, guns stop firing in the city as well. The air was still filled with smoke and the remaining flares that hadn't died.

"Now! Go now!" Before I could even move a wave of black smoke rained down from too far up to see. It sprayed like two hoses jetting wildly all over place. What could only be Genesis' form breached from the water. It looked like some massive dragon-whale monster with red spiky scales covering its body. I'll call it Cthulhu.

The Cthulhu form lunged forward and its claws came agonizingly close to raking the outside edges of the floating fortress before five blue beams opened fire on her form and threw the Cthulhu back into bay for a few moments.

One of Sundancer's suns rose from behind Captain's Hill. It was about the size of a two or three story building and was still growing as it floated towards The Citadelian. It struck and invisible barrier that was trying to disperse its power. The sun pressed against the barrier and began to twist around it, outlining the clear bubble shape of the barrier. A second later the barrier failed and sun plummeted into the fortress where other weapons began trying to take it down.

Suddenly, all the energy based shots began landing against the walls and buildings of The Citadelian. I saw Queen's aircraft coming back for a second pass and was about to leapt into action when a golden shell pierced through the sky and struck with an earth shattering crash in the centre of the fortress.

 **Queen squished Troll between a shell and Brigadier's castle.**

And now the real fight started.

* * *

Reaper and I lunged off the building and into the air. Immediately lasers and missile systems began targeting us. I unsheathed a katana and cut several missiles with a projectile slash the caused them to explode a distance from me. Reaper silently cut one missile with his scythe before the force of the blast sent him sailing toward the ground. He struck a building, causing it to collapse in around him. I landed several roofs away and waited to see if he would climb out. It only took a second before he leapt back out, smoke trailing behind him as he arc through the air.

I turned and focused on The Citadelian. My power's effects would wear off Reaper after a time, but it should be good for at least an hour.

There was a sound barrier that kept me from landing in the fortress itself. Every time I entered it my sword would begin to hum, along with a few organs of mine I think, and then I would be ejected from the field. I would have to hope Queen's sonic cannons can take it down eventually.

I dodged around the red laser that took out the missiles only to get struck with another that sent me spiralling toward the ground. I slammed against the pavement so hard my vision went blurring for a moment. It only took me a moment to find my bearings and stand back up. My impact had apparently made a crater.

I could feel a transformation faintly growing in my power. I didn't know what this one would be, but I hope it was something that could fly. But it wasn't ready yet, so I leapt back into the fray.

As soon as I was in the air again several dozen flak guns trained their sights on me and began firing. I kicked off a building and began swinging my katana in front of me as I sailed forward. My katana began whirling in front of me so fast it looked like there were eight katanas moving rapidly as it cut through or deflected the large flak gun bullets away from me.

Right as I approached the barrier I froze in mid air and began launching a series of force cuts through the air. The ethereal blades flying forward and shearing completely through the flak guns. Right before gravity resumed to effect me three cannons appeared out of the walls of the fortress and pointed towards me. I saw one get replaced with a block of condensed rubble. I appreciated the thought, but it didn't stop two blue beams from shooting me down a second later.

My ears screamed painfully as the sonic beams threw me against the earth yet again. The transformation was almost here, I could feel it. I just need more time.

I had to dart away as missiles and flak guns began firing on my location. Buildings were collapsing all around the city, but particularly around me.

I heard a piercing screech come from The Citadelian and turned to see the Cthulhu monster Genesis made clutching to the side of the flying fortress. Claws raking the metal trying to find a grip as the monster spew hot lava out of its mouth. A second later a black cloud was released around Cthulhu, causing the form's scales to bubble and hiss. Sonic beams dislodged the creature and sent it crashing back into the bay. The things claws barely scratched the still gleaming walls of The Citadelian.

As I leaped back upwards into the sky I saw Grue wasn't summoning his darkness anymore. Meaning his helicopter was probably shot down. Trickster was still swapping guns with blocks of, but to little effect.

We were getting nowhere fast, and I suddenly understood Queen's insistence on her brute force tactics. Even though they had fought time and time again, Queen's machines were still powerful enough to have punched through almost every remaining barrier. Allowing for us to attack enforce. Only we haven't done much.

Grue had managed to coat the equivalent of a few blocks in his darkness, the sheer number of defensive weapons made it negligible. Sundancer's suns would get ripped apart by sonic cannons and she kept having to make new ones, but even then the suns weren't doing anything. In fact, the only one of us doing any amount damage was Ballistic as he launched cars, chunks of builds, and crashed helicopters into the fortress. But even that wasn't anything compared to everything Queen was doing. Even if eight percent of everything she was throwing at him, which was probably a generous estimate, actually managed to his, she was still doing far more damage by sheer fact of numbers and explosive power.

We had the advantage for a moment and were quickly losing it. Was that because we all assumed our powers would be enough to make a difference or because we simply dismissed Queen as crazy? Whatever the case, things were swiftly shifting to a Queen vs Brigadier. Queen was losing resources far faster than Brigadier.

I need a way to make out presence matter. Something to turn things in our favour, because at this rate we'll lose Brockton Bay and all of Queen's fleet.

I whipped out my phone and dialled Queen.

"Heyyyy Tsu!" She answered. "What's up?"

"Hey Queen? Is kamikaze a siege technique?" Queen paused.

"Why yes, yes it is."

"Then let's change things up. Is it okay if you make an all out push on two different sides? Maybe the side with a lot of Grue's darkness coating things?"

"Alright Tsundere," Queen chirped. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, stay safe." I hung up the phone sheathed my katana in favour of dual wielding my bokken. I was going to need the blunt force power. Reaper landed without a sound next to me, his clothing a little torn and the brim of his hat was smoking. In an instance my power's effect on him got restored to full power and the transformation clicked, all ready to go.

"Let's trash this place."

* * *

 **To those it may concern, chapters are about to become much longer depending on the subject matter. Also, if anyone is interested, I have 36 chapters completed that just need to be edited. I you want to help me edit it them, send me a message.**


	24. Nitro

**Brigadier killed Troll.**

 **Brigadier flattened Troll.**

 **Brigadier incinerated Troll.**

 **Brigadier bombed Troll.**

 **Brigadier crushed Troll.**

 **Brigadier eviscerated Troll.**

 **Brigadier decapitated Troll.**

 **Brigadier obliterated Troll.**

 **Brigadier shot Troll.**

 **Troll killed himself to make a point.**

 **Troll hit the ground too hard.**

 **Brigadier launched Troll.**

 **Troll exploded himself.**

 **Queen of the Castle carpet bombed Troll.**

 **Brigadier impaled Troll.**

Brute rubbed his temples as the unending stream of notifications popped into view in the corner of his vision. For the last half hour he had been trying to get onto The Citadelian only to get shot down more times than he could count. Eventually, Skitter ordered him to wait with Queen until she could give him a proper opening.

Queen was talking on the phone with Tsundere while they waited on The Spire. The Citadelian was directly above them now, completely covering all of Brockton Bay with its massive shadow. The thrusters and anti-gravity panels were almost tauntingly bright. They were completely undefended and it would be all too easy for him to rip them apart and cause the floating fortress to crash. Only if that happens, the best case scenario is that Brockton Bay get completely crushed. The worst, and mostly likely case, is that a series of nuclear fusion explosions render the Eastern seaboard completely uninhabitable.

Brute sighed and watched Queen on her phone, still talking to Tsundere. He had mixed feelings about the girl. Her intentions seemed good enough, if he ignored her seemingly nonexistent value for human life if said people were her enemies. But he could respect that, Brute would rather have a good wielder that had no issue destroying her enemies than a bad wielder that never had the ability to hurt his foes. However, Tsundere was still something of a mystery to him. From what he saw Tsundere did everything she did for fun, not like Skitter. Skitter who had good intentions and the steel to fight for them. She was a good wielder, but still…

Brute looked out the window and found the bottom of The Citadelian was the only thing he could see out of it. He felt his strength thrum underneath his skin like a strummed guitar. When he looked at the floating fortress he saw another Endbringer. A rare opportunity to cut loose and go all out. But it was too good at keeping him away.

Queen hung up the phone and looked a little lost for a moment.

"Vhat is it?" Brute asked her. Queen's eyes widen slightly and a bit of colour rose to her cheeks.

"Nothing." Brute raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't say anything about it. "Anyway," Queen said with a little shake of her head, "How do feel about crashing a plane into The Ciadelian?"

"Vill that work?" Queen shrugged.

"I think. Probably. Maybe. Either way, I think you would be minorly inconvenienced at best." Brute nodded. Queen brought her wristband up to her mouth and began speaking into it.

"AI, bring all the nonessential and ineffectual planes by my location and prepare for a duel dive bomb attack. Pull back, say, forty fighter jets for each group and wait for my command to attack."

 _"Altz- Alrigtz Commander. I'll get right on that tzt-"_ Queen grinned at Brute.

"You're going to have to catch a ride." Brute nodded and began walking towards the door. Queen hesitated a bit before saying, "I'm having a problem with the defensive weapons so…"

"Right." Brute answered before walking out the door. He was inwardly pleased about finally being able to do something, but of course he didn't show anything.

It only took a moment for about seventeen planes in formation to fly by the top deck of _The Spire_. Brute watch them go and timed his jump. Just as the last one was zipping by he lunged out and grabbed it.

It carried him upward, following the curvature of The Citadelian's lower half before doing a barrel roll as it entered the open fighting space.

Immediately the air was lit up by artillery shells and flying bolts of electricity. His plane formation took a sharp turn and avoided a green particle beam by mere inches. The sheer chaos going on in the fight gradually lessened as they climbed higher, though they were still avoiding the occasional anti-aircraft shell randomly exploding in the air around them.

The forty other planes join them a moment later. Mostly jets, but a few bomber planes also joined the formation. For almost a minute Brute and the planes calmly sailed through the air with only the sounds of war raging below to let Brute know they were still in the area.

Suddenly his plane was pointing straight down and he had to dig his fingers into the metal to avoid getting thrown off. Brute was blind for a moment as they passed through a cloud layer. Once they were free, he could see The Citadelian clearly for the first time. Clearly enough to see it was almost untouched.

Grue's darkness was suddenly back up, coming from a new helicopter somewhere above the cloud layer. All the barriers had come down and now the fortress was glowing with bursts of energy as laser systems and arcs of lightning took out planes and missiles before they even got close. Larger shells struck the many constructions of The Citadelian with a shower of sparks as the shells fragmented like they were made of glass against the heavily armoured fortress.

As his formation continued its rapid descent he noticed the sister squad getting gunned down on the other side of the fortress. Suddenly every ship and artillery gun focused fire on the two locations the kamikaze squads would be entering in.

For the first time in the battle, Brute saw the metal dent and explode as the collective force of Queen's fleet tore into the side of The Citadelian. Explosions ripped open the several foot thick metal hull of the fortress and became a target zone for all the bombers in the area, including the ones in Brute's group.

Missiles and cannon fire began raining down from the jets in the formation. The tightly packed buildings were rapidly approaching below him. Brute closed his eyes a second before the plane he was gripping crashed into The Citadelian, engulfing him in flames and shrapnel.

When Brute opened his eyes again he had been tossed a massive distance by the explosion and deeper into the heart of the city, if it could really be called that. The 'buildings' were just thick rectangular pillars weapons were mounted in and the 'streets' were gaps between those buildings that was only about a person wide.

Turrets appeared out of sliding panels in the surrounding walls around him and began firing some sort of red energy blasts. Brute ignored the shots and observed the area around him. Buildings were moving around him in an attempt to confuse him, he ignored that too. He pressed a hand to the wall and felt a familiar faint sting, only it was much fainter than the last time he felt it. Electricity, running through every metal surface around them. No problem, he chose to ignore that too.

But the one thing that did surprise him was the cloud of bugs gathering next to him. Obviously this place wasn't a place for bugs to occur naturally, and the cloud very clearly was Skitter.

 _"Thirty lasers."_ Her bugs said. _"Queen took out two near the edges. Sundancer took out a third. Heard Trickster is working on switching a fourth. Tattletale says the important ones are towards the_ center _. I'll guide you."_ Brute grunted. An arrow of bugs pointed him in one direction and he looked that way. He knelt down in a runner's stance and took a breath.

Brute had fought a lot of people since joining Skitter, and a lot more before that. He had beaten Glory Girl, killed Crawler, dealt with a handful of Merchants when they were still a threat, and otherwise kept the peace in Skitter's territory. As such he had been accumulating massive amounts of power and hasn't had anything to test it on. No time like the present.

Brute charged forward and tore through the buildings and barriers like they were nothing in his way at all. Metal moved around him like water against his skin. Wiring and coolant pipes snapped the instant he touched them. The surface dented with every footstep as he charged forward.

Sonic beams attempted to knock him off course, but he was anchored now and only gaining momentum as he went. Arcs of artificial thunder struck him, lasers burnt him, turrets pelleted him, walls moved to block him, acid clouds were released to eat at his skin, but the most anything did was slow him down.

He found one of the laser guns that was keeping Queen's ships away and immediately jumped towards it. The gun itself was the length of a five-story building and worked on an incredibly fast rotating platform.

The moment Brute had cleared the builds two dozen small sonic beams shot him all at once and knocked him out of the air with his ears screaming in pain. Brute got up a second later and grabbed onto a building.

Being a well put together structure most of it came off the fortress when Brute tore it off. He hefted the structure that was much larger than he was above his head and gave it an experimental throw.

The two massive constructions collided with each other in a scream of metal before whatever energy banks the laser used burst and released a massive heat explosion, sending metal all over the place.

Brute found another bug arrow pointing him in another direction. He immediately charged to follow it, throwing buildings every step of the way.

His heart was beating fast for the first time in years and he felt like he might actually be sore after the day was over. His lungs burned as he fought for air like he had never before. It was an incredible feeling, not one he got to experience often.

He tore down three more lasers before Queen started carpet bombing the area regularly, turning the buildings around him into massive graveyards of twisted metal. He was about to get his fourth one when suddenly everything turned green.

Brute was thrown backwards and rolled across the ground, his body breaking and flattening the remains of buildings he had destroyed before. When he looked back up he was instantly shot with several dozen sonic beams and a few more electrical bolts. Brute was forced to the ground again for a few moments of blinding pain before he could stand again. He looked up and saw the massive laser point directly at him, the tip of it glowing red.

Brute would have sworn before it fired if it gave him the chance.

A suddenly bright, golden light filled his vision just as the laser fired. He had to avert his eyes while the two lights burned against each other. After a few seconds, the lights faded and Brute looked up to see Tsundere floating above him.

Her hair was a bright yellow gold to match her costume's new colour. She was floating above the ground with her swords sheathed and a silly grin on her face.

"And vhat is it you call this one?" Brute asked her. Tsundere's grin widened.

"The Kineticsis!" Brute shook his head. Tsundere offered a laugh. "I steal all forms of energy and can turn into kinetic stuff. Pretty neat if you ask me." When Brute didn't respond Tsundere looked up and studied her surroundings.

"So hey," Tsundere called down to him. "I think we got things up here, but do you think you can break this stuff?" Tsundere floated over to a building that was barely standing and tapped it with her knuckles. Green force field appeared over it where she tapped. Brute looked down and saw where he was standing was also covered in it.

So that was the green light that blinded him earlier, he must have been caught in it. A thin force field that covered every surface perfectly and took projectiles launched from across the country to break the first time. Brute nodded and lifted a fist. He felt power surge through his arm as he flexed his muscles before punching forward.

His first hit connected and immediately bounced off. The second strike cracked it like it was made of glass before his third strike shattered it completely. Brute paused for a moment and watched the force field reform.

Brute frowned and lifted his fist again. Three lighting fast strikes later and the shield was down again, creating a hole about twenty feet wide this time. Brute struck again with all his strength before the force field could reform again.

The metal rippled before it broke, a wave of it rising two feet off the ground from where Brute punched before it and two blocks of metal buildings shattered like glass. The metal collapsed in on itself, sending sparks and flames flying through the air as it did so.

Brute sniffed disdainfully. "Should have done more." Tsundere shrugged and watch the force field slowly grow back and crawl over the jagged edges of broken metal, creating yet another thin layer of shield over every surface.

"Looks like it just takes a good hit to break it," she told him. "I think I can handle that."

"Is tinker girl going to be attacking directly?" Tsundere shook her head.

"She is losing too many planes to those lasers. She has already lost more than half her force to them and other weapons around. But once I take out those lasers she'll stop holding back, I think."

"This is holding back?" Brute asked dryly. Tsundere grinned.

"Yeah, apparently. From what I hear all of her best stuff is still tucked away on ships that haven't sunk yet." Brute nodded and looked towards the remaining lasers. "Hey, Brute? Why don't you start tearing a path towards the centre and see if you can't get to Brigadier before Troll."

"I will do this, yaes." Without another word Brute turned towards the heart of The Citadelian and exploded forward, carving a new path of destruction as he went.

Brute continued to roar forward, toppling buildings and ripping apart guns and using the stray metal to bombard the shield as it went. A bright orange sun flew by him, making his skin sizzle a bit as it brushed mere inches from his face. The force field broke almost instantly when it came in contact with the sun, but the metal only grew white hot without breaking or bending.

Brute grabbed the hot metal and ripped it free of whatever construction it was a part of and start throwing it towards the nearest laser gun to him. The green force field shimmered every time it was struck, but didn't break.

He continued to tear his way towards it, throwing everything he could get his hands on it the weapon's direction. The force field didn't break. That was on top of the fact that Brute was constantly having to tear his way through fresh force field every step of the way.

Tsundere hurtled through the sky as a streak of yellow gold before shooting clean through one of the laser weapons, causing a massive explosion. As soon as the metal was flying green force field start encasing the remains again.

He needed to destroy the force field permanently, Brute realized. It was taking too much effort to break through. Queen missiles seemed to be using most of their weapons into shattering the barrier just to do some damage underneath. And that wasn't considering what the others hand to do to break through it.

He turned and jumped straight up, the force of which shattered the metal beneath him again before the barrier could creep back over the surfaces.

Once high enough in the air, Brute twisted around and studied The Citadelian before him.

Brute wasn't very good at understanding large attacks like this, particularly when Tinkers got involved. But from what he saw, it was a frustratingly even fight. Queen probably lost a third of her initial fighting force just trying to take down the barriers that stopped them from even touching the actual fortress. Then it seemed like she had lost another third to the ensuing attack after the barriers did come down. It was mostly planes and helicopters she lost, but Brute knew there would be ships and armour cars in the mix as well.

Hundreds of plane crashing dotted the fortress city, each crash very likely doing more damage than the plane itself did on its own. On the East side of The Citadelian was the location Brute kamikazed in on. It had turned into a smouldering red scar as Queen and everyone else viciously attacked that small opening and tore it open wider. It now stretched six or seven blocks and was growing as a new form of Genesis rampaged through the location.

On the opposite side of the flying fortress, things weren't much better for The Citadelian, but a little worse for Queen as well. With its West side turned towards the ocean the fortress had to bare the brunt of Queen's ships. But that also meant that Queen's ships had to endure thousands of flak guns firing on them in addition to every other defence Brigadier had built. The ocean had thirty to fifty smoke stacks climbing high into the air from ships that were either sinking or were barely staying afloat. However, there were still about thirty battleships left that were still in relatively good condition, each one surrounded by a fleet of smaller warships and submarines. The Citadelian had lost all of its flak guns on that side as the West face of the fortress got tore up under Queen's heavy fire. The two Tinkers still traded fire back and forth, but Queen was slowly whittling the fortress' defences away on that side.

Suddenly Queen's earlier statement that Brigadier was like an Endbringer made more sense. While they were doing massive damage to the outside of The Citadelian and destroying most of its defensive weapons, it was only surface damage. Almost all of The Citadelian was underneath the surface of the fortress. Even if they kept this up for another eight hours and managed to utterly obliterate all of the buildings and weapons, The Citadelian would otherwise be fine. But if they managed to get underneath the surface things might matter, however it was taking everything they had just to scar the outside. And that is with heavy losses on Queen's numbers and firepower.

Brute suddenly spotted what he was looking for. Two massive arches that met at their keystone and gave off a distinct and familiar green glow. They sat near the very centre of the fortress with one of the three remaining lasers right next to them. Brute took a mental note just before he fell back down to earth.

He slammed through the force field and several feet down into the metal before he stopped falling. He climbed back out and turned the direction he need to be going, only to get slammed with a sonic beam before he even took off.

A dozen sonic beams appeared out of nowhere and forced him onto the ground, his ear screaming in pain. He felt a few organs burst and one or two bones snap as he struggled against the beams.

Brute pushed himself to his feet despite the beams and started struggling towards the nearest one. Each step crushed the metal he walked on. His eyes had burst a few seconds earlier and now his was walking blind, navigating solely by the force that pushed him backwards.

He stumbled as the force was suddenly cut off from one direction. Then another and the next. Brute manage to crush that one he was after and gave his eyes some time to regrow. The last of the sonic beams got cut off as he waited. He was also aware of explosions going off as the last of the beams ran out.

With his eyes newly reformed Brute saw Troll standing there with an RPG in his hands.

"Wasup Applejack!" Troll asked, waving the RPG around wildly before pulling the trigger and accidentally launching the rocket somewhere off behind him.

"I told you to stop calling me that." Brute said plainly.

"Oh, you're no fun." Troll said sarcastically as he reloaded the RPG.

"Vell, do you know where fort tinker man is?"

"Oh, he is… that direction." Troll waved his hand vaguely toward the centre of the place. "But we'll deal with that in a moment. I just remember an important question from earlier."

"A vhat is that?"

"Sex with Genesis. How's it work? Does she create a form for you to do it with or do you sit her on top and give her a spin?" Brute glared at him. "Hey, I'm not judging. Just curious. Also, what is it about Genesis that turns you on. Is it the red hair? The wheelchair? Her eyes? The wheelchair? Her body? Her face? Her wheelchair? It's the wheelchair isn't it?" Brute pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily.

"Look, can ve just take down the force field and kill the fort tinker? That is good, yaes?" Troll shrugged.

"I suppose so, just point me in the right direction."

"Oh, I vill do better than that."

"Wait, what does that mea-"

 **Brute threw Troll into Brigadier's force field generator.**

"That felt good, yaes." Brute jumped up onto the nearest building and looked towards the generator. As expected Troll didn't do much to it. But the three red lasers that were firing at Tsundere might change things.

She exploded out of the red lasers like a golden rocket a moment later and didn't even pause as she shot clean through the force field generator. Although she appeared to lose control and went crashing into the ground, causing a massive amount of damage as she went.

Brute nodded. Satisfied with that and turned to go cause some more damage in the direction of Brigadier. But then The Citadelian began to move.

Brute stopped and gripped the building he was on as it jerked into motion. All around him the fortress city was moving. A massive hole opened up at the nearest path of destruction and the destroyed part of the fortress back to sink into it. Then Brute realized what was happening.

All around them the damaged fortress was moving underneath the surface of The Citadelian as new, fresh components rose out of the ground to replace them. The entire fortress, replacing all the damage they had been working on to make.

Then Brute saw the centre of the fortress city moving as well. Four massive half circles were rising up out of the ground, curving so when they met they would form an impenetrable dome within a dome within another dome. And Brigadier would be inside of it, completely invulnerable until he or Queen decides the damage was too much.

Without another thought, Brute leapt forward. Ignoring the moving fortress and all the weapons that shot at him relentlessly as he ran through the building or jumped across them. He was vaguely aware of Troll waving him down, so Brute grabbed him without even taking a second to stop. With Troll in his left hand and using his right to smash building out of the way as he charged endless towards the closing domes that had to be hundreds of feet tall.

Brute jumped up onto a building and kicked off it with enough power that the building and the buildings around it collapsed from the impact of the push.

The two of them sailed through the air and quickly found themselves sliding in between the domes. Each of the four domes was about ten feet thick and were very nearly about to crush them. Brute would have tried to hold one of them open if he thought he could push hard enough, but he doubted it.

Troll and Brute on a street just inside the domes as they shut behind them, plunging the portion of the city into darkness before the interior of the domes lit of with flood lights there were to high in the air to be that helpful.

Troll took off his mask and grinned at Brute with a wiggle of his eyebrows. "So it's just us now Brute… Alone… in the dark…. With each other."

"I vill kill you." Troll sighed sarcastically.

"Doesn't everyone?" Brute shook his head.

"Let's just find tinker man." Troll was about to say something when a booming voice sounded out of nowhere.

"The Brigadier is already here!"


	25. Nikes

No sooner than the moment the final two halves of the dome closed than the rest of Queen's forces took flight. Every remaining plane that Queen had been holding in reserve for this moment took flight and filled the skies once more with a ridiculous amount of war machines.

It was almost funny to see as both of them had apparently reset everything back to the beginning. Only this time Queen didn't need to waste a single plane trying to break through energy barriers. Immediately as the fortress was consuming its damaged parts and replacing whole blocks with new segments was Queen carpet bombing the area with her fleet.

This time Queen began air dropping in her Vulcans and dozens of armoured cars right into the fortress, obliterating any defences the moment they showed themselves. Apparently, Queen had been holding back her best planes because this time the planes were tanking shot after shot against their own defence as they made sweep after sweep throughout the city. Genesis and Sundancer had no issue causing as much destruction as possible. We carved destruction all over the place, destroying the fortress city faster than it can replace the damage with new parts.

I convinced Trickster to start swapping out the blocks of metal and glass the Vulcans were producing with rubble blocks. Although I might have had to subtly threaten him with the idea of me slipping the fact he wouldn't help to Queen if he did do it. So… maybe I made another enemy. But whatever, I wasn't exactly friends with any of these people anymore. Except maybe Brute, or PillowMan and his sister. But even then I wasn't so sure.

The Citadelian, roughly the size of Brockton Bay though maybe a little bigger, was burning. Countless smoke stacks rose up everywhere from the dozens of us assaulting it. I managed to finally get Reaper inside The Citadelian. A few of the thrusters flicked on and off to confirm that Reaper had some control over The Citadelian. The plan was that he would go through and start systematically shutting down the fusion reactors within. But it was going to take a while before that had any real effect with how many there was bound to be.

I instead floated high above The Citadelian and watched the fight continue. Brigadier had basically lost, but he was being a pain in the ass about it. We were systematically destroying the surface of The Citadelian, and there was no way he couldn't know about Reaper forcing his energy sources to stop producing. But he was slowing us down as much as he could. Never mind the fact that he had erected that dome thing that was pretty much impossible to break through, but every single weapon was still blowing some of Queen's planes out of the sky and ripping Sundancer's suns apart.

It didn't bother me that much, he was only prolonging this for however long it would last. Which only meant Queen's Vulcans had more time to steal his own fortress from him. What I did concern me was the fact that I saw Brute and Toll slip inside the domes before they finished closing. And the steady stream of notifications of Troll's deaths let me know they were going after Brigadier. With a vengeance, apparently.

I felt the power that we keeping me in this form slacken the longer I was out of combat. I could help the others destroy the place. It would keep me in this form for a while longer, so long as I was fighting. But that wouldn't help us get Brigadier, only getting into the dome would do that.

I little fact I had picked up a while back was the fact that the largest bomb ever detonated, the Tsar bomb, released as much energy as the sun hits the entire planet with in two seconds. With that in mind, I took my form higher and put myself in the sun. But I suppose, compared to the entire planet I was relatively small, I wasn't picking up energy fast enough. I looked around for something with more energy. I could throw myself into The Citadelian's thrusters or I could fly around the remaining defences and absorb some more energy that way. But it wasn't fast enough for what I wanted. And then I saw exactly what I needed.

I pulled out my miraculously unharmed phone and dialled up Queen.

"Heeey Tsu!" Queen chirped from the other end immediately after picking up.

"Hey Queen, you know that big dome in the centre of things?"

"Yeah?"

"Imma break it." Queen paused for a moment.

"Neat. I'll get things ready." We hung up at the same time and I saw her planes stop attacking for the moment, rising up above the cloud layer to join me and falling into formations that left them circling The Citadelian like metal vultures.

I turned my built up energy into directing towards the edges of Brockton Bay and within seconds found my target. Legend.

"Legend!" I called. He floated passively and let me approach before speaking.

"What is it?"

"I need you to shoot me."

"What?" I grinned at him.

"I need you to shoot me. Hard as you can. Is that so strange?"

"I shoot villains a lot, but usually there is a little more context."

"Here's your context. I'm a villain, you a hero, now blast me like you're trying to rip the planet in half." Legend shook his head but raised a hand anyway. Next thing I know my vision went a brilliant bluish white. I was vaguely aware of a pleasant stinging sensation going all over my body as I absorbed the energy. But then I thought of something absolutely horrible and I just couldn't resist saying it.

"Oh yes, daddy hit me harder!" Instantly the beamed stopped and the look an Legend's face, or at least the part of it I could see, was the greatest goddamn thing I had ever seen. I immediately cracked up laughing so hard I fell over, which in when your float in mid air means I did a backflip.

"Was that all you wanted to do?" Legend asked me sourly.

"Nah, but it was fun though. The energy you gave me should be enough. Ta-ta for now." I flew away before he could say anything else. I thought back to his expression again and snorted. Too good, too good.

I positioned myself above the domes and watched Queen's planes go out and began turning to make another pass. Down below I saw the Travelers doing the most damage while the fleet of Vulcan's cleared away more and more of Brigadier's fortress. I hope it's annoying him, because he sure annoyed me.

As the planes were making their return trip I flipped myself upside down and drew on all my stored up power. Legend gave me everything I would need to crack those domes open like a bloody walnut.

My vision went blurry as I went blasting downward at what I would expect to be the speed of sound based on the sonic boom I just absorbed into my energy banks. I was getting ready to wonder if I had hit it or not when I suddenly felt a wall slam into me. I'm not sure how to describe it beyond it felt like hitting a brick wall, but without stopping. It felt the metal crashing and bending and push against me every stop of the way feeling just as hard as if I was simply pushing against it with human strength. Only I didn't stop, I couldn't see what was happening but my sphere of influence provided me with enough detail to know I was fucking up the dome big time. It was like looking at multi colored strobe lights through a kaleidoscope but with a significant amount of more exploding metal.

I suddenly felt myself falling as I broke through the last layer of the dome and slammed into the ground beneath. I was a little bitter as I felt all my stored up power leave and the transformation fade away. Stupid finicky power, I didn't even know I could use a transformation power so hard that I actually lost it. I guess that's another thing I'll have to write down.

I got back up and dusted myself off and looked around. I was standing in a massive crater of metal beneath a hole that looked like someone took a giant pair of scissors to the tops of the domes. I only had a moment to realize that there was an innumerable amount of missiles and bombs filling that gap and heading straight for me.

I wasn't sure if everything Brigadier built was made so it exploded if damaged too heavily or if that was a side effect of my power, but when the explosions went off they really went off. I had my back turned and was already running when the bombs it and the force slammed into me. My vision went blurry for a moment and I was vaguely aware I was spinning through to air before coming to a sudden stop as I slammed into one of Brigadier's buildings. Which also exploded.

I hit another building which thankfully didn't blow up in my face and I had a chance to let the room stop spinning before I brought myself off the floor and brushed myself off. I guess I had to thank my power for fireproof anime clothing. I had also discovered that the more revealing my clothing was the more indestructible it was, by some anime law of physics or whatever. That's why I switched to a qipao. It was more sexy and maintained an asian theme while also giving me that durability boost. I would have just put on the smallest bikini I could have fit into, but I have to at least _pretend_ I have standards. That, and it would get kind of annoying if every straight male I encountered suddenly experienced rapid blood loss through their nose. Even then it was a hard trade off for near invulnerability.

I heard fighting going somewhere else and quickly ran towards it, acutely aware of the even more pleasant stinging sensation coming every time I touch the electrified metal of The Citadelian.

And stopped the moment I saw it. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair. Brigadier got a mecha before I did? What? By what rule of anime is that?

Brigadier's mech wasn't as glamorous as the rest of his fortress, but it was very clearly Dragon level type Tinker mech. Had the vague shape of a gorilla if was made up with just a ridiculous amount of armour across it. It stood nearly three stories tall when on all four legs and each piece of armour had to be at least a foot thick, like the kind of armour you might find on a battleship.

Every last piece of armour and every one of the many different defensive guns had its own pinkish blue force field surrounding it, and probably had several more kinds of defences included in it too. In terms of weaponry, it seemed to be packing just as much power as his whole fortress. With flak guns, sonic beams, lasers, artillery cannons, anti-aircraft stuff, and more than a few missiles in there. Typical Tinker cheating, although with Queen on our side I don't think we have room to complain as I'm not sure Alexandria could have broken into this place by herself.

However, I was glad to see that the only weapon the mech was using was its sonic cannons every time Brute leapt in the air towards it. Otherwise, it just used its gorilla hands to smack, smash, grab, and destroy the two of them as they fought.

So naturally, my first reaction was to join the fight by bringing a bokken straight into its face.

The force of my strike sent the mech reeling backwards for a few seconds before booster jets stabilized it and it fell hard back onto all fours. For a face, there was a projected face of Brigadier himself. He was old enough to have a grey moustache on his face and a well worn determined angry look etched into his features. He was wearing some type of military uniform with a black beret decorated in stars.

"Wow, really going all in on the whole Brigadier thing huh?" I asked smugly as I stuck my own landing and shouldered my bokken.

"And just who are you, little girl?" I was aware of Brute and Troll walking into sight behind me. Brute's clothing was very torn Troll was duel wielding a pair of Queen's rail guns.

"Little girl? The name is Tsundere." Brigadier's eyes narrowed.

"Ah yes, based on the Japanese character trope I assume? Well, forgive me if I don't take criticism on my theme from a girl clearly too obsessed with foreign cartoons." Jackpot. Not only did this guy like to monologue, he also wants to have an actual argument. I could feel my power welling up exponentially with every word.

"At least mine makes sense." I countered. "I bet you never even served in the military, let alone earned those stars." Not a hard leap to make. There was a reason there weren't any capes in the military, because most of them would have triggered during boot camp or while fighting against caped threats. Let alone any of them make it to a general or brigadier before triggering. And judging how he scowled at me, I think I hit close to the mark.

"And just what castle do you think Queen of the Castle is a Queen of? Because last time I checked, I was the only one here with a castle of any sort."

"A castle we're currently in the process of stealing. So maybe you shouldn't be waving that around like it means something because I just head butted your ultimate dome hard enough it cracked like an egg shell."

"Insolent girl! What exactly are you hoping to accomplish by helping that mad woman? What do any of you hope to accomplish by fighting me? All you have done here today was make an enemy of me and tentative allies with the unstable Mad Tinker. And when you have shunned her and sent her on her way like all the others have before you, I'll come back for you and make sure you know what it means to fight a war with me!"

"What do I hope to accomplish? Well, right now it is my sincere hope that I can be a two-in-one pain in your ass. And Queen is a friend, I wouldn't be a good anime character or a good person if I turned my back on her after this." Brigadier actually laughed at that.

"Friends? Queen of the Castle doesn't have friends. She has people that have what she needs for short periods of time. You are no different, no one has ever been different. At the end of this you'll see she is too dangerous and more trouble than she is worth and send her on her way. Queen is alone for a reason, and she always has been. Or do you think those pancakes she is always making are just naturally that good?" Oh, this motherfucker did not just try that card. How long has he been spying on her like that? Well, I guess when his sole focus in life is killing one person in particular you'll learn things like that, but still; that is creepy.

"Oh, I don't know. I don't plan on turning on her, she is too much fun. How about you Troll?" I rolled my head and looked back at him with a silly grin. His Lenny face mask seemed to match it.

"Same here. Or at least not until I get my pirate battle."

"And how about you Brute? Would you dump Queen off if you were in our shoes." Brute seemed to think about it for a second.

"Crazy tinker girl? No. She is sweet girl, batshit crazy, yaes, but sweet girl."

"Well, that's three of us." I told Brigadier. "As in three more friends than you have. That is an awfully empty city you have out there. Tell me, how long has it been since you have had any real human contact? Did you have a wife? Kids? Friends and family before you started chasing Queen all over the world or have you always been this messed up in the head?"

"Enough!" Brigadier shouted, slamming his gorilla fists on the ground. "Let us get this over with." So no more talking I guess. Fine by me, I got all the power I was going to need for this. Sometimes it is just so great to be me.

The moment he lifted an arm to smash the ground we were standing on I darted forward with an intense burst of anime speed, unsheathing a katana with my free hand and slicing into the joint between his arm and shoulder in one fluid motion. As expected, I didn't do any apparent damage that I could see. Typical of the fortress Tinker, creating a mech with no real weak points. Guess we'll have to do this the hard way.

Brute barreled into the gorilla mech's chest which gave me a moment to dart backwards and think up a quick plan of attack. Troll was firing wildly against every bit of Brigadier he could see while Brute just punched and slammed into it. Not much to go on, but I still had no idea why Brigadier wasn't using his weapon systems for anything other than knocking Brute down. I raised my swords, katana in my right hand and bokken in my left. I don't know whether smashing or slashing would be more effective, so I guess I'll just have to try both.

"Seismic Swing!" I shouted. My bokken glowed white with some sort of massive power right before I leapt forward and slammed it into the mech's right arm. Brigadier pushed me and the swing away like it was nothing and charged forward.

 **Brigadier flattened Troll.**

"Wind Cutter!" This time my katana moved so fast that a thin vacuum field opened up behind it as I bolted forward with it. The blade struck a force field on the mech's back and slid off like water before I kicked off and did a backflip away.

"Holy Shuriken Strike!" Six bright white shurikens flew outwards in wide arc inside the pitch black darkness the move summoned before coalescing on to the mech and exploding against the fields. Brigadier turned towards me as the darkness faded and opened up on my location with flak guns. I ducked and weaved in and out of his line of fire, sometimes cutting bullets out of the air as I went past before I made it all the way to the mech. I was leaping through the air when a sonic beam struck me and sent me reeling backwards before Brute struck Brigadier again. Troll popped up out of nowhere and fired an RPG at the mech. I followed close behind it with my anime speed. As soon as it exploded against Brigadier's force shield I leapt in the air and spun around before bringing my bokken across what would have been the mech's face. I saw the force field flicker for a second and knew we had to be getting somewhere, just not all that fast.

I heard a resounding crash behind me and turned to look at what made it. A second mech, this one standing tall like a human with several rocket pods, energy cannons, thrusters, laser weapons, and otherwise all over it. Each pick painted red and black. It was clearly made to be fast, as all its armour was light probably only half the thickness of Brigadier's gorilla mech. On its face was the displayed picture of Queen.

The mech pulled out two sword handles and pressed buttons on the sides of it, causing two bright white energy blades to spring forth at nearly the length of the mech itself.

"Plasma swords!" Queen sang before leaping up into the air and slamming both swords against the gorilla mech.

Acutely aware that either one of these two mechs could crush me just by stepping on me, I retreated for the time being and found Brute doing the same thing.

Now the weapons systems on both mechs were roaring not stop as the two of them traded fire back and forth. Brigadier seemed determined to keep Queen at a distance and was doing a pretty good job of it too. Missiles and cannon fire got traded back and forth, but Queen was amazing at dodging most attacks and Brigadier seem great at simply taking one hit after another. The surrounding buildings have been completely demolished entirely and then stepped on a few more times after that, turning the entire battlefield in one open arena where the two massive mechs fought with each other.

Every time Queen went into charge all of Brigadier's weapons would open up and push her back again, sonic cannons and flak guns bombarding her seemed to be the most detrimental. Then whenever Queen managed to start laying down serious fire with weapons that far out classed Brigadier's he would charge her, forcing her to retreat again and start over. Neither one was doing much to the other, but Brigadier had a lot more armour that could be chipped away than Queen did. We needed to flip this around.

"Brute, throw me," I ordered. He grunted his approval and I leapt into his open arms with two bokkens in my hands now. The next moment I was in the air, beginning to spiral.

"Comet Crash!" I called as the move popped into my mind and I named it instantly. As soon as the name was called I added more spin to my spiral until to everyone else I would have looked like a blurry Tsundere-coloured ball. I had the bokken crossed in front of me in an 'X' shape just before I crashed into Brigadier and fell to the ground in front of him. I was back up in a second and swung my bokken against the mech's legs.

A five or six lasers began targeting me, but I moved faster than them as I became a blur of movement around the mech. Brute soon joined me in the attack, moving just as fast as I was but without the anime side effects.

I found myself suddenly spending more time evading sonic beams and lasers than actually striking the mech. Brute was much the same, but we were distracting it enough that Queen came in and brought both swords down on Brigadier's head.

The mech raised and arm and caught both swords easily, possessing more raw strength than Queen's attack mech. Brigadier grabbed Brute with his other hand and threw him into Queen's mech, sending them both tumbling backwards. I jumped up and tried the strike him again, only to get back handed across the battlefield.

I saw Queen rising back up and opening up with hundreds of miniature and full-scale missiles. Brigadier leapt through them, causing a massive explosion that hid him from view for a few seconds before he emerged again. Queen dodged easily out of the way and threw Brute back Brigadier, knocking him off balance as he landed on the ground. Queen quickly followed up with another strike of her plasma swords and several strikes from her cannons.

Brigadier's mech was back on its feet in a second and the battle was back on. I could spot several force field panels had gone down, giving us a weaker point to strike. But it wouldn't be enough, my swords couldn't cut through that, and Brute couldn't land a good hit. Queen had already taken a lot of damage. We couldn't keep doing this.

Troll slid next me where I had landed and took his mask off. He was, of course, grinning at me. Probably having as much fun as I would be if I wasn't so focused on finding a way to get at Brigadier. That was another thing I found fun about this whole thing. Queen and Brigadier were the only ones whose innate power and strength meant anything. The rest of us needed to rely on being clever. If Skitter had a more useful power that let her be here I would almost shudder to think how much better off she would be here than me.

All the same, I had to think of some plan. I had something, but I wouldn't necessarily call it a plan yet.

"Reaper are you there?" Out of the ground in front of me Reaper's ghost form, indistinguishable from his real form except for the fact that part of it was inside the ground. "How long until you can jump in another machine?" Reaper held up two fingers then made a side to side motion with his hand. "Two minutes more or less?" I asked him. He nodded. I turned to Troll.

"You got anything that might be able to take out those force fields?"

"Let me check." Troll swiped his hands in the same motion I have seen him do time and time again as he opened his inventory. He reached in and pulled out something that was very clearly some kind of Tinker weapon.

"Damage is high, but the condition is still pretty low. Might not survive the fight, which normally means it will turn into some sort of bomb. Fun."

"If that happens, throw it in Brigadier's direction. You ready?"

"Eyup." He answered. I sheathed my bokken and drew out a katana. I took a careful check of my power. I could feel a transformation, but it was far off. Too far to be useful in this fight. I had plenty of raw power to work with though But I could feel several unnamed moves lingering in the area too, along with the ones I had already used. This was probably the best I was going get during this. If I thought Queen would go with it I would have seen if I could get him to go into another conversation or monologue. Oh well, I guess it'll have to do.

I charged forward and slashed at one open plate of armour that wasn't protected by force fields. My katana bit into the metal a few inches but didn't do anything all that important. Brigadier's fists, laser, sonic beams, and a few missiles were quick to respond, but I was already running past him. Troll was approaching him from behind and began shooting him with the Tinker weapon. If I had to guess it was probably some sort of combination of a shotgun and a railgun, but knowing Tinkers it could have been anything.

I jumped gracefully through the air and landed on top of Queen's attack mech. Instantly I felt my power shift downward into the mech. Exactly what I was hoping for.

"Hey Queen?" I asked, looking down at Queen's projected face. "Any chance you could let me in? I think I could help if I was in there." Queen frowned.

"I don't need help, go away and let me fight Brigadier." As if to state this fact Queen's activated several thrusters and moved forward so fast that I nearly fell off. Brigadier lifted a fist to strike her as several missiles and flak guns fired against Queen. Suddenly Brute barreled into Brigadier's raised fist so hard the entire of the body of the mech twisted, giving Queen the opening and strike the force field on his back, shattering it. Suddenly Queen's mech and I were in the air as Brigadier threw us. Queen had to roll to avoid getting tramped as the gorilla mech tried to land on us.

"Damn it Queen! Let us help you!" I shouted at her as the mech continued on fighting after I had fallen off.

"I told you, I don't need help! Brigadier is mine." Brigadier's laugh was clearly projected to be louder. Prick.

"What don't you tell them your real reason you don't want help, Queen of the Castle." Brigadier said, slowly stalking forward as Queen unleashed weapon after weapon against his mech. Brigadier moustache curled as he smiled cynically. "You're afraid of depending on people because you fear they will turn on you. Just like you father did two years ago!"

Oh that was it. There are unspoken rules. Mostly people knew them as; everyone helps during an Endbringer attack, no one benefits from and Endbringer attack, you don't attack a person's civilian identity, and you don't take advantage of a fallen foe. Simple things like that. But you don't bring up a person's past, it was just wrong. This messed up creeper had just crossed so many lines I didn't know where to begin. Actually, that wasn't completely true. In a split second decision, I decided I would start with a new move I just named.

"Death Spiral!" I drew a second katana and took one step forward before my power took over. The world went black and I started flying forward with an increasingly rapid spin. Brigadier's mech was the only thing in the darkness beside myself that was visible and I aimed for the only spot that didn't have a force field covering it.

I tore through the mech's right arm like the metal was made of paper, and in true dramatic fashion, the separated arm exploded.

"Now Reaper!" As soon as the words left my lips Reaper burst out of the ground and jumped into Queen's mech. No hatch opened up so I settled on leaping on to the back of it and focusing all my power into effecting the attacking mech.

Instantly Queen seemed to realize what was happening because she darted forward the moment I had my grip and plunged a plasma sword right into the spot where I had cut Brigadier's arm off at. Queen's mech was instantly assaulted with missiles and sonic cannons, but for whatever ones she didn't dodge she tanked like they were nothing. That was Reaper's power at work in large part. He makes the machines he jumps into stronger and more efficient, and my own power certainly helped that.

Brigadier seemed to realize he was in trouble now because he started to swing his mech's remaining arm wildly. But Queen was faster. With one hand she cut through his remaining force fields and into armour on his left side, while her right punched him right in the face. The projection of Brigadier's face winked out but the mech kept fighting.

Twin artillery cannons on the ends of Queen's mech's wrists opened fire with a single shot and blew Brigadier's head clean off. Suddenly the mech swung its fist at us again and Queen raised a sword to block it. The blade cut partially through the fist before the blade suddenly broke and the fist came crashing in.

The sheer weight of the mech was the only thing that keep us on our feet long enough for Queen or Reaper to turn on the thrusters and launch us back into the fight without a moment to spare. Queen grabbed his other arm and pulled Brigadier off balance before using and elbow to knock him completely to the ground. Queen suddenly leapt backwards and lifted her arms up. The robotic arms began to whirl and change. Suddenly two massive energy cannons replaced her hands and her largest artillery cannons appeared on her shoulders, ready to fire two massive twin rounds at any moment. Brigadier's mech was struggling to get up as Queen charged the cannons, the green light getting brighter and louder up until I thought it was going to shoot.

And then a golden light cut clean through the waist of Queen's mech.

We collapsed to the ground in a heap of metal before I could look up. When I could look up I saw Scion floating above us, watching passively.

Scion's presence was absolutely terrifying to see. In the back of my head I knew that we were fighting on a scale only seen in past wars or the Endbringers, but in my mind, I guess I still thought this was really just a general super villain fight or something like that. Nothing Scion worthy. But still, the realization that someone so powerful they could probably render the entire Citadelian to dust in an instance is mind numbingly terrifying.

I heard Queen sigh through the speakers of her mech. Brigadier's mech struggled to its feet and 'looked' up at Scion, as well as it could without its head and began walking away.

"What's going on?" I found myself asking before I even knew what I was saying.

"Golden guy showed up." Queen sighed. "It is just no fun when he shows up, you know? Neither of us can fight the other, and it simply isn't a test anymore to see who builds the better stuff.

"So you two are just going to give up?"

"Yeah, we'll both leave and go lick our wounds until we're ready to do it again. Eventually one of us will be better than the other." I took a moment to process that and suddenly became aware that Scion was flying away. I looked at Troll and Brute, who had gathered behind me and were waiting.

"Hey Reaper, how about you and those two head back for now. I'll catch up in a minute." Reaper's ghost body floated up out of Queen's mech and drifted over to Troll and Brute both of which began strolling out of the dome to join the others. None of Brigadier's defences were up anymore.

I took a moment to shift my position and sat down next to Queen's projected face on the front of her mech. I looked at her for a moment, and she stared back at me.

"So, are you actually in there? Do I need to break this open to get you?" Queen shook her head.

"It's controlled remotely back here on The Spire. But it was hit pretty hard at some point so it is going to be damaged whenever you get back." Queen sighed and hung her head. "Tsu, what Brig said I-"

"Queen," I cut her off by raising my hand. "It doesn't matter. Whatever he meant, what ever it means to you. I don't care, you don't have to tell me." Queen drew her eyebrows together in a confused and worried fashion.

"You don't?"

"Nope." Queen smiled weakly, but I could see her eyes lighting up back into the way they normally do.

"Thanks for the help. I'm sorry I told you I didn't need it. I just… I never really had help before." I smiled at her.

"I wouldn't be a good anime character or a good person if I didn't help you. We're friends, you got that? That's what we do." Queen's smile broadened and her voice returned that her normal chirp.

"Okayyy Tsu! Oh, and by the way. This mech and everything else that crashed is set to explode in, like, forty seconds."

"Oh, thanks for the heads up," I said sarcastically before turning and running out of the dome and right off the edge of The Citadelian, crashing face first right into the bay as Brigadier finally left.


	26. Choke

Taylor bench pressed the metal plate on last time before moving it off her and getting up. Stravik, who had been sitting on the weight nodded and said,  
"Very good, yaes. You make fast progress. That is Tenant's doing, yaes?" Taylor nodded. Tenant, among plenty of other things, was giving her the ability to push her body much harder than she would have thought possible months before. He released restrictions on muscles, allowing her to push herself harder. He blocked pain and nullified feelings of numbness and weakness, allowing her to go longer. He controlled lactic acid release and a number of other body related functions, allowing her to not feel sore at all after these workouts and to recover much faster. Her muscle also increased much faster, also Tenant's work. Early on she would go to sleep and wake up with visible progress in addition to wounds healing at slightly faster rates.  
He did all this on top of his normal tasks of body regulation, mental training, and his small amount of control over her power that let him spend the night ordering them around. If Taylor wasn't aware of her own ability in the skill, she would have been impressed with Tenants multitasking abilities.  
Recently he had made the development in expanding her own power into other categories. Before Taylor had control of anything with a simple mind. Mostly bugs, but that included crabs and other small things as well. But Tenant had given her to control the slightly more complex minds of small mammals. Squirrels, rats, bats, and things. She could feel her power touching slightly into dogs and cats she has encountered, but it resembled something closer to Regent's power than her own control. She would need to do more tests, but she doubted she would ever get full control of them.  
Taylor found the fact almost ironic. Tenant gain more and more control the more people accepted him, but there was always some unconscious push against him, some subconscious reaction that didn't like him. A result of having a complex mind. And Taylor, or Skitter, could completely control bugs without the thought process to resist her. And only when she got a power boost was she able to tap into the slightly more complex minds.  
"Did you have any plans, Stravik?" Taylor asked as she stood up and stretched. Not having to sweat was another added bonus of Tenant assisted workouts, one Taylor almost liked the most. Stravik stroked his chin for a moment.  
"Vell, I after I drilled The Ants I vas going to meet with Genesis and go do something." Taylor nodded and quickly recalled her list of things to do. The Ants were what people called Skitter's 'soldiers'. Enough people, mostly former gang members, had been joining the ranks that Skitter separated them into muscle and general workers. At first, they were called Soldier Ants and Worker Ants, but people were lazy. It didn't take long for the Soldier Ants to just get called 'The Ants'. Everyone else didn't do anything illegal or shady at all and simply weren't referred to anymore because it was almost impossible to tell them apart from normal people.  
"Any chance you two will be done by the time of the meeting today?" After Brigadier cleared out Tsundere wasted no time meeting with Miss Militia and only Miss Militia. They worked out a deal where Queen and the rest of The Paranorms would let everyone back into the city, exactly the way things were before. But only if Queen had two days, ending today, to let Queen's Vulcans clear the streets of rubble and her destroyed machines. They were slow to agree until Tsundere made the stipulation that the Triumvirate could oversee the city to make sure they or anyone else didn't do anything beyond cleaning up the rubble, but only if the Triumvirate left the Brockton Bay area afterwards. When Legend began floating over the city they knew they accepted the deal.  
"Yaes," Stravik answered her.  
"Then go whenever you're done." Stravik nodded and left to go get into costume and begin drilling The Ants. Taylor turned her focus towards her territory.  
Being fairly close to the shore a lot of buildings experienced the brunt of Brigadier's fire as he entered the city. Several dozen buildings and houses had completely collapsed after being shot through too many times. Queen, however, put a lot of focus on cleaning up near the shore first, probably because she had a lot of vehicles placed there when the attack started. As such, with fifteen surviving Vulcan's Queen had completely consumed the damage several blocks in from the shoreline, including any buildings that had collapsed completely. That was the first day. The second day it appeared Queen had put all the materials she had gathered previously into building more Vulcans. As a result, anywhere from sixty to eighty Vulcans had prowled the city all yesterday, completely clearing the city out.  
For the first time since the Leviathan struck every street was cleared and every building that wasn't standing was consumed. Destroyed cars had been consumed and the piles of trash had been lost into the hot cores of Vulcans. Getting turned into a compressed blocks of ash and other useless materials. Where buildings stood before were massive towers of the blocks Queen couldn't use in her creations. Blocks stacked three stories high and made completely out of concrete, ash, asphalt, and any other material that couldn't survive the fire of the Vulcans or couldn't be used. And they existed all over the city, it would probably make it easy when Coil's construction crews returned to the city and began hauling out the material.  
Much like her Ants, people had been coming into the city despite the Protectorates warnings. Most have been claiming beds in Tattletale's shelter and other shelters like it. Taylor turned her attention to her own territory and preparing it for the return of her people later today.  
Her bugs checked every last building in the territory simultaneously. Checking for anything and everything she could clean up and take care of. Among smaller tasks like clearing out loose trash and cleaning up the area, Taylor also controlled every rat in this part of the city and sent them into hundreds of spider nests she had stashed all over the city. Their bodies would provide important protein to her spiders. Good for silk. She directed a good number into her own layer to feed spiders in her tariums. If Legend or Alexandria were watching the strange movement her building would look no different than any other buildings the rats marched into.  
She could see Brute directing Ants to their necessary places. Skitter had set up a miniature government in the territory to the point she could leave and know it could handle itself. There were Ant officers in charge of little sections cut out and defined for them. They had their own little squad of other Ants to help them police their sections. There was also a little shady business she knew she wouldn't be able to stop completely. So she made sure she profited from it.  
She heard Tenant sighing in her head and immediately switched her current tasks to her second mind and turned her first mind to Tenant. Tenant felt the shift and responded as if she asked him about the sigh.  
"Just thinking about how you are both the best and the worst host I ever had."  
'How do you mean?' Tenant kicked back in the chair he was resting in and threw his legs up on the table.  
"On one hand I have a more cohesive existence in your mind than anyone else's. Even the most submissive person would have some deep resentment for me. But you have the most logical based mind I have ever seen, with a power the guarantees that you stand a disadvantage in most fights meaning you have to do everything you can to stack the deck in your favour with pure intelligence. Then, you happen to be in the position where you're tasked with managing territory with a fair amount of administrative responsibilities. Another thing I excel in assisting you with.  
"Only you have that infuriating little part of you that still holds just enough moral value and general human personality that no matter what happens will always be there to stop me from achieving full potential.  
'Out of curiosity, what do you think the perfect mind for you would be like?' Tenant shook his head.  
"That is the really annoying thing about humanity as a whole. The perfect mind for me simply can't exist. If they have they can use me as effectively as you, then they have that very human moral part that blocks me. But if they have a mind odd enough to be completely accepting of me then they wouldn't be logical enough to use me well."  
'Like Tsundere?'  
"Yes, precisely." Tenant paused for a moment. "Alright, promise me when you die you'll do it as far away from Tsundere as possible." Taylor smiled a little and turned her attention back to her territory. But without the construction workers and other people, there wasn't much to do. Instead, she slipped into her costume and headed out.  
There was still an hour until the meeting, two hours before people would start flooding back into the city. With an hour to kill, Skitter moved toward Bitch's new territory on the outskirts of the city.  
Simply for the sake of things, Skitter opened her eyes for the first time since waking up this morning. Her third mind was already a kaleidoscope of sights from different bugs that all came together within the mind to form a detailed three-dimensional model that her third mind constantly updated and let her know of her own location in. Because of she hadn't needed to use her own eyes hardly at all, causing her senses to throb when she opened her eyes. It took her a moment to adjust, though anyone watching wouldn't have known. Hundreds of spider silk cords were secured to different building ledges and poles, allowing her to swing her way across the city with the proper application of momentum and force. All of which was easy her new strength and two different minds equally capable of plotting a course and keeping her on it.  
The city felt foreign to her. It had all of the destruction from the Leviathan attack and everything Brigadier had thrown at it, but without all the scattered rubble to make all seem real. Combined with the fact that the whole city was empty all for but a few stragglers. All the better for travelling out in the open, she supposed.  
On her way to Bitch's, several thoughts ran down through her mind. Most of which had to do with the impending meeting. She still needed to save Dinah, that objective had never changed no matter drastically Tsundere and her new team had skewed things. But she had to wait for the right moment, and it was soon. They had been playing fast and loose with the unspoken rules for too long, they were long overdue for the Protectorate trying to punish them for that. In fact, it was very likely Queen was the only reason they hadn't yet. However, Queen's ships and other weapons were almost completely destroyed. If they were going to make a move it would be soon.  
However, there were two factors that told Skitter exactly how they would play it. Just because Queen's machines were mostly destroyed didn't mean she wouldn't take it as 'an act of war' if they targeted her. And simply by knowing Queen, or rather not knowing Queen, an assassination attempt would pose a significant risk that her machines would go berserk; killing millions. The second factor was Skitter herself. In just the recent fight with the Slaughterhouse Nine would have put her on the watch list of the PRT. Recent events likely put her down as a Brute, Thinker, Shaker, and Tinker on top of her pre-existing Master class. The only reason they likely hadn't put it up on the PHO yet was because they had no logical explanation why she fell into so many categories. There is no indication that her power of controlling bugs was any sort of explanation for her recent change. Not to mention the artificial changes she made to give her body a different form. In all likelihood, it was probably driving the Protectorate mad just trying to figure out what was going on.  
But because of that Skitter knew exactly how they would attack. By striking hard, and as far away from Queen and Tsundere as possible. They wouldn't risk a calculated attack on an unknown factor, but can't risk antagonizing Queen. They also have a very small window of opportunity. They saw how fast Queen produced a fleet of Vulcans, and that was with just a fraction of the city. Now she had the entire city's worth of resources and Skitter heavily suspected she had something like a Vulcan collecting her ships from the bottom of the bay. They had until the end of today at the very least to pull this off. And if The Undersiders and Travelers could push them back without any casualties, then it would be the perfect opportunity to ask Coil to make good on his promise.  
However, it was still more than half an hour before she could act on any of that. For the moment she would focus on a side goal, befriending Bitch. However, that would be one of the small things that keep her and Tenant in disagreement most of the time. Tenant believes it to be some waste of time, stating that Bitch was too bitchy to be dealt with and it didn't benefit her at all to go the extra mile to be her friend. Which, when looked at completely logically, wasn't all wrong. Skitter, of course, disagreed but shrugged it off. However, Tenant claims that there was a subconscious part of her that was offended by the thought. She could say she couldn't recognize what he was saying, but couldn't disagree with it either.  
Skitter swung into Bitch's territory just a minute or two later. Just a ten or so minute walk to the meeting place. A three minute swing. Bitch was patrolling with the crew Coil assigned to her and instantly turned towards Skitter's direction. Skitter could feel the dogs within the dogs as her power moved into them, not taking control but still present enough to remind her.  
"What do you want," was Bitch's first words the moment she pulled Bentley to a stop in front of her.  
"Lunch. You mind?" Skitter responded bluntly. Bitch stared at her hard for a moment before turning to the girl on another dog behind her.  
"You make some hamburgers. With those cooked vegetables from last time?"  
"The asparagus?" The girl asked. Skitter remembered her. She was the same girl Skitter had talk to just a little bit before Brigadier had attacked. The one that Bitch apparently was going to give a dog.  
"Yeah." the girl looked happy at that and directed her dog the other direction soon followed by Bitch once she had helped Skitter onto Bentley's back. After a minute or so of silent riding Bitch finally spoke.  
"Tsundere is at my lair," she said bluntly. Skitter blinked. That was unexpected.  
"Why?" Bitch shrugged.  
"She wants something, but can't just say it." Bitch frowned. "She is better than most, always says what she means. But she is like those cartoons, weird." Skitter nodded and thought about it for a second.  
"She mentioned wanting a dog once." Skitter could feel Bitch tensing against her because of how close they were on top of Bentley's back. Skitter decided not to say anything else until they got to the base.  
Skitter found Tsundere the moment she entered her five block range. She was contenting herself by spinning a shuriken by its tips on the table she was sitting at. She didn't seem her usual energetic self. Something Skitter would have to ask about when they arrived.  
Reaper was with her too, moving in and out of walls in his ghost form as he explored. Skitter wasn't sure what to think of him, he was new. Like Regent when she had first met him. She had noted his power to jump into machines and controlling them while also making them better than before would be amazingly useful. Only for whatever reason he had joined Tsundere, Troll, and Queen. Which said a whole lot about his character that would make anyone second wanting him on their team. The Paranorms were gaining a reputation larger than Brockton Bay, and not necessarily for the better. Queen and Troll tend to get some national attention whenever they show up, but now they have been brought together under Tsundere. The country eyes were looking at Brockton Bay, waiting to see what happened. And if Reaper ever wanted to join another team or anything, he would likely be haunted by this decision.  
Bitch and the others found themselves in her lair a minute or two later, the dogs making exceptional speed through the city. The two of them entered the main room while Bitch's crew disappeared to do their own thing. Tsundere stood up and grinned at Skitter when they entered.  
"Hey, wasn't expecting to see you until the meeting in like…" Tsundere thought for a couple seconds before Skitter filled her in.  
"Twenty-five minutes." Tundere paused before rolling her eyes and flopping back down in the chair again. Bitch looked between the two of them for a moment before gruffly stating,  
"I'm going to wait on the burgers." She shuffled out the door and disappeared. As soon as she was gone Tsundere groaned and slammed her head against the table.  
"Tense?" Skitter asked with a raised eyebrow behind her mask. She pulled out another chair and sat down next to Tsundere. Tsundere now hand her arms crossed on the table and was resting her head inside of them, mumbling through them.  
"I just realized about half an hour ago I have no idea what I doing." Skitter wasn't sure how to respond to that. She reached for knowledge she had gleaned from book to help her, but Tenant subtly suggested that a personalized approach might be necessary for someone as abnormal as Tsundere. Frowning, Skitter mentally prepared for a lengthy conversation and asked,  
"What do you mean?" Tsundere sighed and lifted her head up off the table, now resting her chin on her crossed arms.  
"I mean I started all of this because it was supposed to be fun. And it was, back when I was just running around knocking heads for you guys. But somehow I am the leader of a team now? Supposed to be holding and managing territory while an impending meeting determines whether or not I go to war with you guys comes up? That was never supposed to happen. I can't do this. I'm not suited for running a team and territory, that's for other people. Like you and Coil."  
"I don't lead the team." Skitter stated blankly. Tsundere rolled her eye at her.  
"Oh please, when it came time to take territory it was pretty clear. The only reason Grue is going to stay leader is out of tradition. He is like you, just not as smart or rational. And that was before Tenant began doing his thing. All you have to do is push, and the team is yours." Skitter quickly thought about what she was saying and quickly checked it against facts brought up by her second mind. Everything she was saying seemed true, and it was both reassuring and somewhat concerning that Tsundere realized this before she could. Maybe that little bit of humanity Tenant kept referring to was shining through?  
"Well, I think you have to remember something." Skitter said slowly as to pick out her words carefully. She had gotten Tsundere's attention, staring at her with now wide pink eyes. "You're not suited to run a team because you're the wrong kind of person. But you're not running a normal team, you're running a team with the Mad Tinker and Troll. Not to mention whatever makes Reaper crazy enough to join you. You're running a strange team, something you're perfect for." Tsundere smirked at that.  
"I'll try not to take offence." She leaned back in her seat and sighed. At that moment Reaper came into the room by floated through a nearby wall. He floated until he was behind Tsundere and then fell back onto his feet, suddenly solid again.  
"So what is he like?" Skitter asked to change the subject, nodding toward Reaper. Tsundere glanced at him briefly before giving a shrug.  
"Him? Well, you can't tell when he is wearing the mask but he is kind of a smug asshole." Skitter blinked for a moment, not expecting that. Reaper responded by lifting off his mask and hat to wink at her.  
He had an absolutely gorgeous face to look at. It was thin yet still maintained finely chiseled features. His skin was lightly tanned, something he clearly did purposely because it suited him incredibly well. Light brown hair was clearly combed yet still looked incredibly windblown despite Skitter knowing it had been hidden underneath a hat before. Pale green eyes stood out against his tanned face. Past that, he was clean shaven and a well-built man, the kind of guy that managed to get lucky in all the right ways. From his look, Skitter instantly knew that he was fully aware how gorgeous he was and what effect he had on people.  
"You're staring," Tsundere and Tenant said at the same time. Tenant glared at her. Reaper's give a sly smirk that brought a whole new angle to his face before replacing his mask and hat. Suddenly becoming the silent and intimidating figure Skitter was more used to. Tsundere grinned at her.  
"See? Isn't he a prick?" Skitter silently cursed herself for not being able to respond for several seconds when he had unmasked himself.  
"Problems?" Tenant asked her with an amused expression. "I don't blame you. Tsundere already had more sex appeal than ninety percent of women in this city, and now she has Reaper with his, what was it you thought?" Tenant paused and searched her mind for her exact words. "Finely chiseled features? While you got Bitch and yourself for comparison."  
'Fuck off.' Tenant chuckled at her.  
"A disembodied voice has to entertain himself somehow." Tsundere sighed and laid her head back on the table.  
"So what now then?" She asked. "I mean we have to have a goal of some sort, don't we? Most villains are together for money, but it isn't like we have that problem." Skitter wasn't exactly sure what she meant by that, but she could work with it.  
"It isn't the only reason villains band together," She told her. "In fact, it is probably more common that they do it for power. You get to know people have your back and it is that much easier to gain territory in a city control a gang."  
"You want me to keep help you take over the city." Tsundere said, suddenly realizing what Skitter was getting at.  
"Why a not? You get power and some control and things. Not to mention that hero's won't leave you alone, meaning you get to have plenty of fights." Tsundere leaned back in her chair again, this time going so far back the front legs came off the ground.  
"I guess, it would help during the meeting today wouldn't it?" Skitter nodded. "I don't know, running territory doesn't sound like much fun."  
"Just so you know, the offer we made still stands." Tsundere raised an eyebrow at her.  
"The one where I join back with The Undersiders after we take out Coil? Yeah, I think we both know that wasn't going to happen the moment I left." Skitter nodded silently. She couldn't deny the truth of it. Tsundere sighed.  
"I guess I'll just have to make the most of it then. Not much else I can do." After a few minutes of silence Skitter decided to change the subject by asking,  
"So, are you planning on asking Bitch for a dog?" Tsundere smirked.  
"If I can think of a way to ask her. The puppy is just too adorable."  
"Well, I wouldn't mention you only wanting because it is adorable." Tsundere gave a sour look. Skitter took a mental note of how quickly she moved from one mood to another.  
Suddenly Bitch came back in with her grunts behind her carrying burgers. She roughly shoved them in front of everyone without ceremony before tearing into one in her hands. Skitter look between the two before lifting up her mask and taking a tentative bite.  
"You don't have to hold back," Tenant sighed from where he was lazing around. "Any food you eat I'll simply release your body's natural limitations and make your muscles increase faster. And if you worry about the taste I can get change how you'll perceive taste."  
'Talkative today.' Skitter noted before taking a large bite of the burger. As promised, it tasted amazing. It still tasted like a burger, but probably much better than the burger already was. Skitter also noticed the faint taste of barbeque sauce that certainly wasn't there at all.  
"So… Bitch…" Tsundere began as delicately as possible. Reaper took a few steps back and said something in sign language. Instantly the language came to Skitter's mind.  
 _"This is going to be good,"_ he had said.  
"I would like to have Doodle." She said with a nod. Bitch looked at her seriously for a second. Tenant snorted hearing the name.  
"No." Immediately Tsundere fell on the floor in a very anime style move.  
"B-But why!?" Bitch gave her a glare out of the corner of her eye.  
"Because I don't want to."  
"There has to be another reason!" Tsundere demanded.  
"No there doesn't."  
"Yes, there does!" Tsundere was on her feet now and Bitch's dogs were coming into the room with a low growl. Bitch's scowl deepened.  
"Snicker Doodle is a runt. Is going to be small all her life. She doesn't need you smothering her because she is cute." Tsundere made a face and stuck her tongue out at her and turned away. Skitter spied Reaper making hand gestures at Tsundere, not sign language but something else. Tsundere apparently understood it because she responded by flipping him off, but she was smiling. Apparently not getting 'Doodle' hadn't troubled Tsundere all that much.  
"It's time." Skitter said, suddenly standing up. Tsundere sighed.  
"I suppose it is, isn't it?"


	27. No time for a breath

We gathered around a large table set up in a large warehouse in the part of town we were meeting. Out of sight of the Triumvirate.

Everyone was present, Coil, The Undersiders, the Travelers, and of course, we were too, The Paranorms. It was hard to tell with Coil, but I think he was a bit apprehensive about the meeting. Judging by his armed guard, I think I was right.

Queen was messing with his power, I knew. We didn't know how, but Tattletale did give us her best guess. He would create two separate realities based on an action he makes, however, Queen does nothing different in either one. But when he creates two realities without changing anything Queen does something radically different. It didn't make any sense, but then again, neither did Queen a lot of the time.

"So," Coil began. He weaved his fingers together in front of him and stretched a bit. "Tattletale and I are in agreement that the moment the Protectorate has established themselves here they will try and take away everything we have gathered.."

"'Us' meaning your two groups." I stated curtly. Coil paused for a moment before continuing on.

"While, it's true that they will likely avoid attacking you directly at this moment if you allow for the heroes to gain any foothold in the city you risk your own position." Coil paused to see if I was going to add anything. I didn't. Coil nodded and pressed on. "The assets of Queen has will be invaluable in the case of any attack. As a testament to this, even after Brigadier's attack on the city Queen still has enough weapons in the area to seize the city if she wanted to. And if you were to work with me I can make sure you all receive ample supplies and other assets."

I could sense Queen tensing next to me. I didn't know why, but there was something she didn't like about this. I glanced at Troll and saw him picking at his fingernails indifferently, but I knew better. He was in this for fun, similar to me. And if I agreed to anything that put too much of a limit on that, I might have to face him leaving. Reaper was standing behind me, oddly like Brute was doing behind Skitter. I hope she wasn't reading too far into that. I knew he wouldn't care too much either way, but the fact I didn't know exactly why he was on the team left me a little uneasy. I wondered if Skitter was ever like that, if she had a nagging suspicion of people she didn't understand the motives of. She seemed like the type.

"So let me get this straight," I said, leaning back in my chair without even looking at Coil. "You want me to use mine and Queen's resources to help you take the city? Work with you again and assist you the same way we had before."

"Yes," Coil answered, "It would present the most benefit to the both of us."

"Alright, I'm going to go with…. No." I could almost feel Coil's blinking in shock. I saw Skitter tilt her head at me, but with the mask on I couldn't tell if it was curiosity or incredulousness like the others were giving me.

"May I ask why?" Coil said, barely losing steam.

"Because you're a smug prick and I don't like you." Troll looked up and grinned at me widely. Coil pinched the bridge of his nose, all semblance of diplomacy gone.

"Are you really going let your personal feelings of me influence your decision on a deal that benefits you?" I nodded my head.

"Yeah, essentially. If everyone did the logical thing this world would be pretty boring." Coil heaved a heavy sigh and shook his head.

"What do I need to give you?" I blinked and several other people turned to look at him.

"Come again?"

"What do I need to give you to get you to go along with this?" A slow grin spread across my face as the idea's rolled in. Troll seemed to get a few bright ideas as well. I stroke my chin as I pretended to think about it deeply.

"I'm going to need… a seventy inch, plasma screen TV."

"With Netflix," Queen cut in, suddenly.

"And Hasbro," Troll added. I nodded at him and then at Coil.

"Yes, and Hasbro. Whatever that is, make sure we have it." Coil pinched the bridge of his nose again.

"Consider it done. I'll have it delivered to Queen of the Castle's air base on the North end of town.

"Neat." I pushed away from the table and stood up, quickly followed by Queen and Troll. "I'll be watching my territory, making sure everything goes smoothly and all." I got the feeling they wanted to say some more things, maybe negotiate specifics. But that wasn't my thing so I left without a word. Probably for the better, the won't expect any more of me in the future and that suited me just fine.

It was two hours after our meeting and we were chilling on the deck of The Spire. Queen somehow put a couch and a recliner right there in the centre of the deck of the ship with planes and helicopters sitting all around us. Queen and I shared the couch, each of us on one end. Troll was sitting upside down in the recliner, scrolling through his inventory on a screen no one could see. People were milling about on the streets below. Reclaiming their houses or reacting to the fact that their house was damaged or simply gone. It still got me how well Queen had cleaned up the city. She probably saved the city thousands of dollars in cleanup, which was probably the only reason they let her do it in the first place.

I saw Dragon's suits entering the city first and saw them heading towards everyone's territory. As if they knew it was coming, the people that had been milling about disappeared into buildings. The Protectorate probably wanted to get the drop on us that way, but we knew they would try something. I thought that was a bit odd, they must have known that we knew what they knew they were going to do. So it would have been easy for either side to add a few more 'knews' and 'knows' in there and completely over think things. Or was that something normal people didn't do? Is that just me?

I shook my head and looked over at Troll. His mask was off and he was holding a book at arm's length, which apparently made it easier to read while he was upside down in the chair. It was titled, A Thorough Indictment of the Last Democratic Presidents. I got the impression he was staring blankly at pages just to screw with us.

"Hey Troll," I asked. He lowered his book to look at me.

"What's up?"

"How do you feel about switching things up?" Troll looked confused for a second and then he realized what I meant and a wild grin grew across his face.

"Really? We're actually doing this plan?" I nodded with my own wicked grin.

"Yup, Tattletale said there is a good chance Coil is going to try to kill Skitter during the fight. Which means we get to literally 'switch things up'." Queen looked confused.

"What are you guys talking about?"

"You'll see," I answered. "Let get going, they'll be waiting for us." Reaper came out of a nearby helicopter and signaled he was ready to go. Troll rolled out of the chair and stood up, shortly followed by Queen. I flashed a smile at them before jumping off The Spire's deck and landing in the city without waiting for them to catch up.

The Undersiders were waiting for us in some back alley not that far from The Spire. It was hard to get a read on them through their masks, but I could guess they weren't happy with not being there when their territories were attacked.

"All ready?" Tattletale asked us when arrived. I flashed a grin and nodded.

"Feel free to share," Grue stated roughly. I guess Tattle and Skitter didn't tell them about the plan.

"At the end of the meeting, you remember Skitter asking Coil for a promise?" Tattletale asked him. Grue nodded slowly, clearly not seeing where she was going with this. "She was asking him to promise to let Dinah go, and now my power is saying that Coil is going to kill her." Grue tensed immediately and even Bitch looked a little upset at that, though it was hard to tell with her.

"Which is why we made this plan," I said taking a step forward and motioning to Troll. Troll lifted his mask of his face and stepped forward with his silly grin. He made some swipes in the air and then suddenly he was a woman.

In not even a full second, Troll had changed himself into the perfect female version, which made more than a few of the others do a double take. But before anyone could say anything, Skitter stepped forward a pulled her mask off. Her face was a little more tan than I remembered and a bit… fuller I guess. Not sure how I would say it, but it just seemed like she had become more. Not older or better, just more.

Troll began swiping left and right through the air again and his/her appearance began to change. First, he/she changed his/her nose to match Taylor's and then Trollet, what I going to call her just because, changed her hair colour and style to closely match that of Taylor's. Some more adjustment with the eyebrow, chin, forehead, mouth, eyes, cheekbones, skin tone, and then finally making her body skinny yet muscular like Taylor's and they were almost a perfect match. You could easily mistake Trollet with Taylor if you weren't paying close attention. Which was perfect.

"Woah, slow down," Regent said, raising a hand. "You can change your appearance at any time? And you're going to switch with Skitter so if they kill her, they are killing you?"

"Yeah, essentially," Trollet responded, with a voice that was very clearly not Taylor's. She had the same trademark grin Troll had, only it looked really off on Taylor's face. I guess I wasn't used to seeing Taylor grin, or smile for any reason really.

"So, is there any reason you choose to be a guy all the time?" Regent asked.

"Don't like waiting in line for the bathroom." She responded. Imp snorted and Regent chuckled. "Oh, and by the way," Trollet said as she partially unzipped the jumpsuit she was still wearing. "Just in case anyone wanted to know what Taylor would look like if she had boobs." Trollet began moving an invisible slider back and forth the rapid increased and decreased the size of Trollet's breasts. Going from DD to A and back again in the span of seconds. And if I wasn't mistaken I think I could see a little bit a redness rising to Taylor's cheeks.

Of course, that was only confirmed when she straight up punched Trollet in the face.

 **Skitter knocked Troll right the fuck out.**

We all looked at Skitter for a moment as Trollet's body dispersed into shards of glowing light. After a few moments of silence, I asked,

"So… any particular reason you can punch hard enough to kill a person?" I asked it as nonchalantly as possible, which I thought was funny, but Taylor didn't seem to impressed by it.

"My Tinker stuff took care of it." She gestured to all the tech she had on her arms and back now. There was no explanation why she had all that tech without a Tinker on the team, which could have only meant Tenant was responsible. Which meant by 'Tinker stuff' Taylor meant Tenant. And if Tenant lets you one punch a person to death, I want one. I want twelve. My power already lets me do that, I'd be insane with my own Tenant.

Just then Trollet came back around the corner chuckling.

"Totally worth it." Grue pressed a hand to the face of his mask and groaned.

"Can we just get this over with, we need to take on Dragon's suits as fast as possible." Trollet rolled her eyes before pulling out a spare jumpsuit and mask from her inventory and handing them to Taylor. Taylor quickly stripped out of her costume and handed it off to Trollet. She was wearing exercise shorts and a sports bra underneath, which let me see her muscle for the first time. I was not disappointed.

Her arms and legs were beyond just being toned, they were jacked. Not to mention her abs, I couldn't believe them! She was so muscular I could see her strength bulging in her shoulders as she moved. This was ridiculous, that kind of strength would put most men I knew in a tough spot. And with everything I have seen from her so far, there was no way she wasn't on par with special forces or something like that.

She pulled the jumpsuit on and stuffed her hair under the mask before pulling it on. The baggy clothing hid the fact that she was a woman. For all intensive purposes, the was no way people would be able to tell the difference between the two of them.

"Let's get going then," Trollet said. "I can't wait to Troll Coil with this."

"Boom, headshot," I said as a shuriken pierced straight through the Dragon mech we were fighting. Queen and I were in Bitch's territory with Bitch and her henchmen. We had broken this mech several times already and it just kept coming back.

I knew whoever was in charge of the PRT had to be sweating profusely. I had told Queen to hold off on most of her things, but AA fire and artillery cannons occasionally would be fine. The moment one of her suits were hit each suit landed and stayed out of the line of sight. Now they would be on edge, knowing that we have allied with The Undersiders and Travelers and not knowing whether or not Queen was going to take it as an act of war or not. The idea amused me.

As the Dragon suit shed the metal from its last form and began to change into something else Queen ran by and cheerfully shouted,

"I got it!" Her boosters opened up and she shot forward before slamming her fist into the suit's jaw. A mounted battery ram shot out and cause the head to explode wide open. Before I even saw what happen next Queen had pulled out two armour piercing swords and began slashing away at the mech, a child-like glee spread across her face.

Several foam sprayers turned her way and began to shoot, but Queen seemed to anticipate this and leapt backwards; releasing a small cloud of miniature missiles that ripped the already damaged armour wide open. Queen was about attack again but I moved in her way and stopped her. One of Bitch's dogs barreled into Dragon before Queen could protest and started to claw what was left of the machine into bits.

Bitch rode a dog by me and stopped before looking down and saying, "Skitter wants me to help her someplace else." I shrugged.

"Sounds good to me." Bitch nodded once and then started riding in some other direction, leaving me and Queen alone in the area. I looked at her and said,

"So… what to go see if there is something else we can break?" Queen grinned at me widely and said,

"Sounds good to me, Tsu." I was about to suggest a place when a golden door opened in the air and a woman in a black suit fell out and landed on top of Queen. For a moment I was just stunned as the woman in the suit knocked Queen out and broke several parts of her power armour.

"Who are you?!" I shouted as I drew both katanas. I would need the cutting power because whoever this woman was, she was going to die.

She tilted her head at me and considered me for a moment. Then she threw Queen over her shoulder and said,

"I see the path to victory, give up." I felt my stomach sink when she spoke, but then a thought crossed my mind and I grinned. Suddenly the woman in the suit looked a little confused.

"That's funny, because that sounds very much like a Thinker power." I pointed out. "I if I had to guess, Queen is screwing your power up isn't she?" The moment I was finished talking a golden doorway opened and she took a step towards in. With all my anime power to back me up, I ran in front of her and swung my sword. She took a step back to avoid it easily, but a single lock of cleanly cut hair fell to the ground. I saw her eyes widen slightly and I let myself grin.

The portal, or at least that's what I guessed it was, closed behind me and a new one opened up behind her. Immediately I blocked off her path to that one and moved to attack as well.

She dodged every single one of my attacks with the simplest of easy and even struck me right in the stomach, knocking the wind out from me. I took a few steps back and took a breath before I had to stop her from going in another portal.

We locked eye for a few seconds and both of us understood what was happening. I can't beat her in a straight up fight, but I can stop her from entering the portals. She can't fight me head on, my anime powers made me too hard of a target and even if she could make it into a portal it would give me a moment to kill her or follow her in. So she ran, Queen still on her back.

"You're not getting away that easy!" I screamed at her. As I ran after her I threw shurikens after her to keep her busy, simultaneously I pulled a cell phone out from costume and dialled Trollet.

"'Ello?" She answered.

"Troll, a woman came here in some sort of portal. She's taken Queen." There was a pause on the other end before Trollet answered.

"Does she wear a suit?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Give me two minutes." It was the deeper voice of Troll that said it and then he hung up the phone. I stowed it away again and charged after the woman in the suit.

Troll didn't hold back when he made his entrance, a jeep he stole barrelling in from a cross street at a hundred miles per hour. The woman in the suit dodged deftly out of the way and the jeep crashed into a wall.

 **Troll committed suicide.**

A minute later and Troll appeared out of a building the woman was running by and started opening fire on her with a light machine gun. She ducked and weaved through the bullets and punched him in the neck.

Contessa **throat punched Troll.**

So Contessa was her name. Good, I would remember it.

Contessa suddenly jumped away from a manhole cover in the ground right before it exploded. Only Troll appeared out of nowhere with another vehicle.

 **Troll crashed into a wall.**

Troll jumped off a building and fired a rocket launcher at her.

 **Troll hit the ground too hard.**

Troll covered a street in land mines.

 **Contessa exploded Troll.**

Troll strapped a bomb to his chest and charged her.

 **Contessa stoned Troll.**

I was following her as the two off them constantly when at each other. Three dozen times Troll died a different way. Several more times Contessa tried to escape through a portal, each time I nearly killed her trying to block her path.

Suddenly Troll appeared riding on top of an armoured car coming in from a side street, probably controlled by Reaper. Contessa immediately turned and darted down an open side street. Suddenly, the buildings on each side of that street had their ground floors ripped apart by a massive explosion that made both buildings begin falling on top of her.

Troll and I waited for the rubble to settle as the two buildings slammed into each other in their fall and Contessa disappeared in a storm of rocks. After what felt like an hour of apprehensive silence, I saw Contessa standing still on top of the rubble with Queen in her hand.

I couldn't tell if it was her power or her, but I saw the gears turning in her head. I saw he come to the slow realization of something everyone else realized a long time ago.

There were an infinite number of ways to kill Troll, but there was no way to stop him.

Contessa laid Queen on the ground gently and looked at me.

"Cauldron will be coming for her eventually, only next time we'll have to get you two as well."

"Alright, then could you send Cauldron a message from me then?" I asked her. Her eyes narrowed and she nodded. A smiled and said, "Tell them, 'Prepare thy anus'." Instead of responding a portal opened up behind her and disappeared.

"Quick, Troll grab Queen and see if you can get a helicopter to come for her. Reaper?" The moment I asked he rose out of the armoured car Troll had come in on. "Okay, I want you to find Dragon's best suit and use it to beat the other ones into submission." Reaper nodded and then floated down the street.

"Um, Tsundere?" Troll said. I turned and saw he was fiddling with Queen's wristband. A walked up to him and he told me, "The AI lady won't let me get help for Queen." The wristband made a noise and the AI voice came on.

 _"V-v-voice_ reco _-cognition identifies you as Troll. N-n-n-_ ztch _\- No access allowed."_

"Damn it," I swore.

 _"Voice recognition identifies you as Tsu. Full access granted."_ I blinked.

"Okay… Queen is unconscious and needs transport to The Spire."

 _"Under-der-_ derstood _ma'am! Re-enforcements are on d-d-d- the way."_ I look up in the sky and saw a helicopter coming towards us.

"Come on Troll, let's meet back up with Skitter. I really want to punch something right now."


	28. Never time for brakes

Dealing with the other Dragon suits was almost insultingly easily. With her abilities, Skitter was able to analyse the suits and find the best way to fight them. Most of the time that meant telling Brute to punch it. Not the most glorious plan, but his name was Brute the Brute after all. She had a bit of an issue with the Azazel, but not long before she began working out a way to deal with it Reaper showed up and possessed it. After that Reaper tore the remaining problems to shreds before flying it out of the city and activating its self-destruct protocols. If Skitter had to guess, Reaper was like Regent and couldn't keep control of the machine one hundred percent of the time and once he left it Dragon could take it back over.

Several days had passed since that and things had calmed down for the time. The Paranorms had gone silent after they finished helping them fight Dragon the first time. Something that slightly annoyed Taylor as she never got a chance to bring up the fact that Troll had turned back into his old self and costume and disappeared with the only warning when he dropped Skitter's costume in front of her.

But there was nothing she could for the time being, right now there was a standing order from Coil that they weren't meant to go out in costume. So for the moment, Taylor was watching the news in her base while Tenant twirled his cane in one hand in the corner of her vision.

 _"Following a devastating failure to subdue the villains that have been taking control of Brockton Bay Director Piggot has been reassigned to a different city until further notice. Filling in for the time being is Commander Thomas Calvert. When asked about this new placement, the PRT reported that Commander Calvert served as a PRT field agent before an honorable discharge. For the past several years he has offered his expertise to the PRT as a paid consultant in parahuman affairs for New York, Brockton Bay and Boston, later serving as a field commander for the PRT strike squads. The PRT expresses full confidence in Commander Calvert's ability to handle the daunting task of Brockton Bay's parahuman incursion."_ Taylor shut the tv off at that.

"Coil is Calvert," Tenant mused. "You've read a bit about him, and it certainly makes sense given what we know. The question is, what are you going to do about it?" Taylor took a moment to think.

"I suppose it is time I ask for what I want."

"Still going on about that little girl? You know, your subconscious keeps making decent points about how useful she would be to you. Just take her off the drugs and she would probably be grateful for it enough that she would willingly help you." For a terrifying moment Taylor actually felt herself agreeing with him, oddly finding the idea appealing. But she quickly dismissed the thoughts in an almost violent fashion.

"No, we're going to return her to her family."

"But why? Your own mind recognizes how much of an advantage it would be, and on a list of things you have done this wouldn't even make the top ten. In all honesty it isn't that bad of a crime, particularly if you play this in a way she does it of her own free will."

"Is it really free will if I manipulate her into making the decision?" If Tenant had an answer for that he didn't get a chance to say it as a voice cut in.

"Um, Taylor?" She turned and saw Charlotte standing in the doorway. "Are you talking to yourself?" Taylor silently cursed herself.

"Uh, yeah. Helps me keep my thoughts organized. Was there something wrong?"

"Troll is here." Skitter nodded. Her second mind had spotted him the moment he entered her territory. He was in civilian clothing, but no one seemed to know his civilian identity if he had one so Troll was his name no matter what he was wearing. In this case, it was blue jeans and a T-shirt with a cartoon horse on it.

"I'll be right down," she told her and went to go grab her costume. She slipped it one and grabbed an identical version. The last fight had been good practice if she was going to switch places with Troll, but it taught her that it would have been more difficult for her to switch costume than it would be to stay out of sight and let Troll's absence go unnoticed.

She greeted Troll by throwing her costume at him the moment she walked into the room. Troll caught it with a grin and shoved it into his inventory before swiping at a few invisible screens.

"You know, you never did tell me how your powered works." Skitter stated.

"What do you mean?" Troll asked as he moved the slider that switched him to what she heard Tsundere dub 'Trollet'.

"I mean specifics. We all know you respawn, but how does it know your name? And your inventory, as well as this ability to change your appearance, got me wondering. So I've been looking up a lot of game mechanics that often appear in games." Troll laughed.

"Oh, that? Well, my inventory only holds clothing, food, guns, and ammunition. And granted that is all I really need in life, it is kind of limiting. As for the name thing, I have a nickname option. For instance, I change my name to Skitter 2.0 when I put on this costume. But that is really the only major thing I have. I got a menu that lets me turn on subtitles, change my FOV, go into the third person more which is really trippy by the way, turn on combat music, and a bunch of things like that you might find in a game. My power isn't all powerful, just filled with enough bullshit to really screw with people." Trollet paused as Skitter stared staring at him "What?"

"You're having a normal conversation, I was full expecting some witty remark that may or may not have been a sexual innuendo."

"I can do that for you later." Trollet said with a wink.

"Goddamn it." Trollet laughed and finished equipping the costume.

"So, Tsundere said you sent her a text message saying you're going to confront Coil for the girl? Ballsy move. So, how are we going to play it?" Skitter thought about it for a moment.

"The Travelers will be about fed up with waiting for Coil to deliver on whatever Noelle's situation. I'll let them have their words with Coil before I do, my team is ready to back me up. However, when he takes me to go get Dinah, Bitch and I will ride on one of her dogs. That's where you will come in and switch with me. Then you will pick up Dinah and bring her back to your territory and keep her there while I head back here. If we even get that far, which I doubt. I just can't believe he won't try something."

"Which is when I get to Troll him," Trollet stated with a grin. Skitter nodded and turned toward the door.

"Let's get going, Calvert will meet us at his old base, on top of the building."

"Oh, before I forget. Tsundere wanted to know how you plan on countering his power." Skitter paused.

"Easy, we stand a distinct advantage."

"Oh?"

"Coil can see the exact outcome of two actions, only two, and has to pick one of them to follow. But we can plan for all possibilities."

* * *

"...I would offer this as a compromise in exchange for a one year delay on that term of our contract."

"No," Skitter answered him. They were on the roof of the building they had agreed to meet with Calvert on. He showed up with his squad of PRT officers, likely completely loyal to him. Or at least as loyal mercenaries tended to be. "I'm sorry, but you've got to let her go now."

"Then I will. I'm disappointed, but I won't have it said that I'm not a man of my word." He clasped his hands together and continued. "How would you like to resolve this? I can return her to her family, or pass her on to your custody." Skitter could have remembered a time where her heart would have been pounding at a moment like this, where she would have briefly panicked about not thinking this far ahead. It served as a wake-up call to just how much she has changed. Now, anything she didn't plan ahead of time, which was unlikely, was taken in stride and factored in with either her first mind or her third. Her moral directive was more of an objective than it was a feeling she followed. And while emotions did play into it, they were processed by her second mind and Tenant controlled her body function to stop sweating, trembling, and increased heart rates. It made it all feel so far away.

"Her family." She told him promptly.

"Very well, we will release her to her parents and place some covert observation so she doesn't spill the details of my grander plan. Now, my officer will take you to her." As scripted beforehand by her and Tenant, Skitter hesitated.

"Your team can accompany you if you wish." Skitter looked back at her team mates and Grue nodded.

"We will be riding one of the dogs there if that's alright." Calvert nodded and the officers got loaded up.

"Tattletale, if I could borrow you for the moment while they do this. The Travelers grow impatient and you might be able to give them some more answers with Noelle." Tattletale looked at Grue and raised a questioning eyebrow under her mask.

"Take Regent and Shatterbird with you."

"You sure?" She asked.

"He'll respect that I'm just as concerned for your safety as Skitter's."

"Aw," she said with a pat on his cheek. "You're not a very good liar. I appreciate the sentiment though." Tattletale walked off with Regent in tow. The group of them walked away from the building as Bitch increased Bentley's size until he was large enough to ride. Then she, Skitter and Grue all climbed on and started to follow the truck.

There was some remote part of her that was on edge during the trip. There was a small chance that he would try to take her out during the trip there, but she doubted it. Not with her team mates sitting right next to her. No, he would wait for an opening.

Suddenly, when the truck they had been following turned a corner and disappeared from sight for a brief moment, Trollet jumped out of a nearby window while saying, "Allyoop!"

He landed on Bentley's back right where Skitter had slipped off a moment ago. She saw Bitch tense the moment she moved into place behind her, but she didn't change stride for a moment. Skitter ducked into a nearby building and waited until they were gone before moving again. Using her swarm sense she followed their progress up until she found Dinah at the edge of her power. She positioned herself accordingly, using her mobility and third mind analysis to get there before the others did. Then she waited.

All in all, the trip took about fifteen minutes and then everything seemed to go without issue. Trollet stayed completely silent through the whole thing, taking Dinah's hand and leading her away. Skitter was about to get up and follow them when:

 **Thomas Calvert shot Skitter 2.0.**

Chaos erupted immediately. Skitter threw down hundreds of bugs on whoever it was that took Trollet's place, forcing her to let go of Dinah's hand. Then suddenly Bentley grabbed the girl in his teeth and killed her. The action shocked Skitter briefly before she started moving again.

 **Troll got blown up by a grenade.**

Skitter felt a smug satisfaction at the panic Coil must have been feeling at that moment. But the fact remained that Dinah was endangered and they had left both Tattletale and Regent with Coil. She needed to get moving.

 **Calvert bombed Troll.**

The moment she entered area Bitch was finishing up dealing with the 'PRT' squads Coil had sent. She noticed Imp was suddenly there was well. She must have secretly ridden with Coil's men, otherwise, Skitter would have seen her.

"Bitch, you shouldn't be killing people. It is a good way to get the hero's on our ass." Skitter said on approach. Bitch offered a noncommittal grunt. Grue put himself in front of Skitter and asked,

"What now? He probably has Tattletale and Regent as hostages now." Skitter was about to answer when her phone rang. She answered it and a slightly ragged voiced Coil spoke on the other end.

"I admire your paranoia and I believe an apology is in order."

"You tried to kill me. It better be a damn good apology."

"I am willing to concede your victory on this, I'll return your teammates, let you keep Dinah, and anything else you may ask for. In return, we resume with the previous plan, albeit on a much more tenuous trust." Skitter could hardly believe it; he just attempted to murder her and he was still trying to spin this in a way that benefited him.

"Market, north end that is all shut down. You have twenty minutes." Skitter hung up the phone and huffed. Suddenly something heavy fell out of the sky and landed next to them. Brute, with Genesis riding on his shoulders.

"We go, yaes?"

* * *

Coil pulled up in an armoured van. Brute had dropped Skitter and crew off at the meeting point then disappeared to return Genesis to the Travelers where she would do her best to convince them to go against Coil in the upcoming confrontation, but Skitter didn't hold high hopes. Brute had returned before Calvert had arrived and was impatiently smoking a cigar.

Coil and four soldiers stepped out and fanned out from him. Tenant made a silent note that it was too few, that Coil would have more somewhere even if she couldn't sense it with her power.

"I have to ask," Coil said, "How did you get Troll do go along with your plan?"

"Troll has done mercenary work in the past, all it took was a little money I had squirrelled away to get him to die in my place." Skitter answered.

"Clever," Calvert said with a nod. "However, I do believe it is time for me to take control of this situation once more." Suddenly several dozen soldiers, the Travellers, and surprisingly the villains Uber, Leet, and Circus teleported in with a hero named Chariot. Those last ones were unexpected, but not too surprising considering the amount of effort he went into this plan.

Suddenly Brute dropped his cigar and took two steps forward before everyone raised their guns at him. Brute paused for a moment and said,

"How many bullets? How many till one kills me?"

"I'm not interested in killing you," Calvert said confidently. "I will shoot all of The Undersiders if you take one step forward." Brute looked around and stretched his neck, causing it to pop.

"Then you die. No matter what happens tonight, I kill you."

"I think you're quite wrong on that account." Calvert strode forward a little bit. "This is what is going to happen. We won't pretend we can trust each other after this, but we will make an effort to back to normal." Calvert turned to address Skitter. "I will return everyone to you and give you resources like normal, as I mentioned on the phone. Then we will share the city between each other, and I won't attempt to kill you again and you won't seek revenge."

"You mean I won't tell Brute to kill you." Skitter stated plainly. "Let's be honest here. The only reason you aren't ordering your men to pull the trigger is because Brute would turn you into a pink mist before you finished giving it."

"Fair enough, but these are my terms. You may accept them or you can all die and I'll face my death with some dignity to my name"

"Bullshit," Bitch said suddenly. "Your name means nothing. Everything you've promised me has been a lie." Calvert looked as if he had been slapped.

"Show me Tattletale and Regent." Skitter said before Calvert could react to Bitch's statement. It caught him off guard, but he quickly recovered and waved to Chariot. He pressed a button and the two of them appeared, both in restraints.

"Could be a body double," Imp suggested. Calvert shook his head.

"Use those codes you use to prove it. Take her gag out, but be ready to replace it immediately." An officer nodded and walked behind Tattletale and got ready.

"Rose- L." Skitter said. The gag came off and Tattletale said,

"Stringbean- A." The gag went back in. Calvert looked expectantly at Skitter.

"Are you prepared to accept my terms?" Skitter took a breath and said,

"No." Calvert blinked.

"No, what do you mean no?" He was getting angry. Good, Skitter thought.

"I mean you work for us now. We are in charge of the show, not you." Calvert was stunned for several seconds then he sighed.

"Chariot, if you will." There was a flash of light and suddenly a cloud of smoke surrounded Brute. He coughed a few times before collapsing to the ground. Skitter could feel everyone grow tense.

"Now, now, it was only knock-out gas. Given his healing factor he'll be better in minutes, but I have another lined up for him should I need it. Now, you will accept the terms or you will die." Skitter cocked her head to the side.

"Is that so? What do you think squad captains?" Like flipping a switch half of the soldiers Calvert teleported in turned and pointed their guns at the other half. Calvert's eyes widened.

"What? Travellers-"

"Stay where you are!" Grue boomed. "Don't do anything!"

"And someone free Tattletale," Skitter added. Tattletale grinned as she was completely freed.

"So glad the stringbean plan worked."

"What is going on?" It appeared the string of set back after set back was getting to Calvert because he was truly panicking now.

"You forgot that mercenaries follow the money, and I'm paying them double a year's salary up front to work for me. Everyone who isn't in on it, look to the squad leader to confirm that is the truth and then join them in assisting me!" The soldiers turned and saw nods. Then more guns got turned towards the Travelers and Calvert.

"I'll pay triple!" He said, a touch desperately.

"You don't have triple."

"But I do!" A voice said. They turned and saw Troll approaching them with his mask on. "How much is that? A million? A hundred million?" Troll started reaching into his inventory and pulling out stacks of hundred dollar bills. "Amazing how much money you save when you don't have to eat to live. Or rather you don't have to live."

"Troll, what would you even do with a mercenary army," Skitter asked plainly. Troll through about it for a moment. Then he looked her and smiled.

"Well, I can think of a few things. But since I don't have a few hundred fandom T-shirts I can't go storming Hasbro any time soon. But I do have this." Troll snapped his fingers and then suddenly all the cloaking on Queen's helicopters went down.

"GOOD MORNING BROCKTON BAAAAAY!" Tsundere's voice thundered over the area through massive speakers before she and Queen leapt out and landed on the ground with a massive crash. "You didn't think I would miss out on this action would you?" Tsundere asked with a grin. Brute suddenly coughed and began to rise off the ground. Skitter strode forward until she was in front of Coil, then she took out a gun she had been carrying.

"You see Coil, your power tells you the results of each decision you make. Allowing you to pick the one that lets you live. But right here, at this moment. There is nothing you can do that will let you live." Calvert's eyes widened as far as they could go.

"Enough Skitter!" Trickster shouted. "You've made your point, you win. But we need him, if you kill him we will kill you." Skitter turned her head to look at him.

"Ballistic. Sundancer. Any other Traveller with doubts, I know you guys aren't happy with the status quo. If you want to stop running, stop moving constantly and move to Brockton Bay permanently, we'll have you. We need you, even." They were silent for a long moment, then Ballistic and Genesis moved forward.

"You guys…" Trickster said weakly.

"I'm done," Ballistic told him. "This was a doomed quest from the start." Genesis looked over at Brute.

"Me too. There are other things, better things I could be doing."

"Sundancer?" Skitter asked. "I know you said you feel lonely. Wouldn't you like to just stop?"

"Mars." Trickster said. Sunderdancer looked at him, then back to her other two former teammates.

"I'm sorry Trickster." Sunderdancer said in a shaky tone. "I just can't, not anymore." She turned and started to walk away from everything that was happening. Leaving Trickster all alone.

Skitter turned back to Calvert and held the gun up to his head.

"You're not a killer." He said pathetically.

"No, not by myself." Skitter answered. "But I'm more now. Not better, but more." Then she pulled the trigger and Calvert's body fell to the ground.

"So now what?" Imp asked bluntly. They watched as the chaos that occurred in the north part of the market dissipate from a distance. Queen's helicopters flew away, Tattletale's mercenaries retreated and started to prep leaving the city as instructed. The heroes were coming in to investigate the scene by now. Hopefully, none of them would spot all the villains on the roof.

Skitter turned and looked at Genesis and said, "I meant it when I said I need your help. I know Ballistic has gone his own way, but we would gladly have you on the team." Genesis looked thoughtful for a long time. She was sitting on the edge the roof, Brute angrily huffing a cigar next to them.

"I don't think I can," Genesis finally said. "To me, you guys will alway be the ones who got me to betray my old friends. It just isn't going to work out if I try to stay with you guys."

"Well, if that's the case," Riza said, elbowing her way into the conversation. At some point she had changed back into her signature short shorts and black crop top. Which, of course, said 'Badass' on it. "You should join my team. We have a lot more fun than The Undersiders do anyway." Genesis looked uncertain.

"I don't know…"

"Come on, please! It'll be great!"

"And fun," Troll added.

"Don't forget exciting," Queen put in.

"And annoying." Tenant said. Skitter hushed him.

Reaper rose out of the ground next to Genesis, catching her attention. He then lifted his mask and dramatically ran a hand through his hair. If Skitter wasn't mistaken, Genesis blushed a little.

"He means sexy," Riza stated plainly. "We are also sexy." Riza paused to smile at Genesis. But seeing that she was still quite on it Riza decided to add, "What if Brute joined?" Brute's head snapped up, although Skitter noted he didn't inform her of his beliefs as he would correct everyone else.

"What do you say, tough guy?" Riza prompted. "It'll give you and Gen a chance to hang out more, and it would give her a higher purpose or whatever it is she is looking for." Brute stared at Riza for a long moment, his expression hidden by his mask. He looked down at Genesis next to him. Her face was filled with uncertainty, but Skitter thought she could spot a bit of hopefulness underneath it. Finally, his eyes rested on Skitter.

"I have served more people than I can count." Brute said in his thick accent. "And I have never left one before they died, no matter how much I have vanted to, yaes." Skitter sighed and shook her head.

"Go on Stravik, you can do what you want." Brute leaned backwards in stunned silence.

"But I cannot, you are wielder. I always serve wielder until end."

"Well, that was back when things were normal, now I think it is time they be a bit paranormal. You're dismissed, join The Paranorms if it is what you want. You're a grown man, you don't need some sixteen-year girl telling you what to do." Brute shook his head in confusion.

"But what about you and your team? Vill you not be at disadvantage vith out me?"

"The Undersiders survived without you before, we can do it again." And then Brute smiled.

"You have used me for months and do not feel greed for power. You are the best wielder, better than I deserve." Brute stood up and look at Riza, who had a goofy grin on her face. "All right cartoon girl, you are new wielder."

"Alright!" Tsundere pumped a fist into the air.

"I guess that means me too," Genesis said with a faint smile.

"Sweet! That's six people! The Paranorms is the best team ever!" Riza began freaking out with anime assisted physics, making her disappear and reappear in between words. Skitter smiled and turned away.

"Are you sure?" Tenant asked. "It isn't too late to change your mind."

'I'm sure,' Skitter said, 'Tsundere will do much more from Brute than I could.'


	29. Always a new race

"Hey, guys! Guess what I got!" Troll said and he entered the cafeteria of The Spire. Everyone else was here, Stravik and Jess, me and Queen, Reaper inside of the ship, and now Troll. The cafeteria had become our own little hangout. Before it had been several rows of plain tables as if Queen was expecting to feed an actual crew, but tables had been pushed out of the way and couches brought in. Troll set up the seventy-inch plasma screen tv on top of one table and hooked up a bunch of game systems to it. Right now Queen was watching some chick-flick on Netflix. Brute and Genesis were off in the corner talking with each other while I shared a couch with Queen and played on my cell phone.

"What did you get?" I asked, welcoming the distraction. Troll held up a file with a grin.

"The Protectorate's files on us." I got to my feet and crossed the room with a grin.

"What were you doing at the Protectorate's headquarters?" Troll shrugged.

"Tattletale said that this girl named Noelle escaped from some place Coil had her stashed when Skitter offed the big man in charge. Skitter suggested that we warn the local heroes, so I volunteered. I decided to pick up the file on my way out."

"And they just gave it to you?"

"No, but what are they going to do? Kill me?" Troll snorted, but then he paused. "Actually when I told them what I wanted they decided it would actually be easier to just give it to me. Funny how that works." Troll handed me the file and I started to look through it as Reaper came out of the ground and looked over my shoulder. He wasn't in costume at the moment, but I still hadn't learned his real name.

The Paranorms

Team leader: Tsundere

First appearance a team: Brockton Bay

First appearance as group: Brockton Bay's Undersiders

Threat Level: B-A class threat

Note: The large threat level stem more from a difficulty of dealing with said team.

Villain: Tsundere (Riza)

Sex: Female

Age: 17

Threat: A class

Class: Breaker 6, Brute 5, Changer 3, Shaker 2, Blaster 1

Power: Not widespread, but major reality warping that affects everyone including Tsundere. Effects are noted to make the world operate as if in an anime.

Costume and gear: Tsundere uses power to warp her physical features to cartoonish proportions so her true face is unknown. Cat ears, kimonos, and qipaos with flora designs. Is known to use bokken and katanas.

Note: Experts within the PRT have long lists of possible applications on her power based on common tropes in anime.

Villain: Troll

Sex: Likely male

Age: Unknown

Threat: B-A class

Class: Breaker 6 Shaker 3 Mover 2 and possible Changer 3

Power: Life operates somewhat like a video game. When Troll dies his body disappears and he 'respawns' perfectly healthy some distance away. Distance is normally one to three blocks but has shown to increase the more difficult it is for him to respawn without being killed or captured again.

Costume and gear: Wears a white bodysuit decorated in the style of NASCAR drivers, only decorated with troll face memes. His mask is a white one-way mirror with a Lenny face on the front.

Villain: Queen of the Castle

Sex: Female

Age: late teens

Threat: S class if provoked

Class: Tinker 7, and possible Thinker 2

Power: A Tinker that specializes in siege weaponry, displays an impressive rate at which she constructs her weapons.

Costume and gear: Has no desire to conceal her face and has no active civilian life. Wears a skin tight suit augmented with armour, grappling hooks, arm mounted battery rams, and concussive artillery cannons along with a number of other machines.

Note: The tech she builds shows to not be too far advance, sometimes not even being past current tech. He rating stems from the massive amount of weapons she has created.

Villain: Reaper

Sex: Male

Age: Unknow

Threat: C-B class

Class: Master 8

Power: Taking control of machines and increasing their durability and efficiency.

Costume and gear: A long black tail coat and wide-brimmed hat along with a leather mask worn by doctors during the black death. Carries a scythe with Queen of the Castle's anti-armour blade technology.

"Huh," I said. "Well, now if I die I can do it knowing that I made it so that somewhere in the Protectorate there is someone whose official job title is 'anime expert'." I felt far more happy about that than I should have been. Would this person be like a hardened expert in video analysis, someone that takes the job way too seriously? Or would they be some teenager hired because they have forsaken social interaction for the loving embrace of anime? Both possibilities were equally amusing to me.

"Heh," Troll half chuckled, half giggled. "They put me down as 'likely male'. That's amazing."

"You know," I said thoughtfully. "I just realized that before those two over there joined," I pointed at Stravik and Jess, "I was the only one with an actual name. Like, I realize that neither Troll or Queen need masks, but you guys still have name right? Like before you became villains?" Queen tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"I guess, but I can't remember. It's been too long." Troll smirked.

"My name is whatever I want it to want it to be really. But whenever I need to make a legal transaction or something I go by John Smith."

"Really?" I asked plainly. "That has to be the most disappointing name ever. And when do you need to make legal transactions?"

"Well, one time I was at a restaurant and it was taking to long to bring me my order so I walked out, bought the restaurant, and fired the staff out of spite."

"Do you still own the restaurant?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Troll shrugged.

"Probably, I don't know. I probably gave it to some homeless guy to run and still have profits rolling into one of my bank accounts or another." I turned and looked at Reaper, who was standing just behind me with his resting smug look.

"What about you?" Reaper reached into a pocket and pulled out his wallet. An oddly mundane thing for him to have. He pulled out a plastic little card and handed it to me. His driver's license.

"Alexander Blane? The Alexander Blane?" Reaper nodded, or I guess Alex now.

"Uh, you want to fill us in the Riza?" Troll asked.

"Alexander Blane was this famous pop-rock singer just a year ago. This guy was a legend! He got his start doing live covers of all the best rock songs from the eighties and then started making these really amazing albums. I used to have a pillow case with him on it!" For the first time since any of us met him, Alex let out a loud laugh. We paused and looked at him, he shrugged at the attention, but never stopped smirking.

"Woah, wait a minute." Troll said. "You used to be fan crazy for this guy and you still didn't recognize him?" Slightly embarrassed, I shrugged a bit sheepishly.

"He got a haircut? I don't know, I thought he died a year ago along with everyone else." Suddenly, Alex stopped smiling and looked away.

"Really? What happened?"

"He was on this tour, and then his plane crashed somewhere in Clearwater, Iowa. No one ever found his body. And I guess now we know why." My eyes widened as I realized that we were the only people that knew Alexander Blane never died. "Reaper! You should tell people, let them know you're still here. I bet you could make a fortune doing interviews and the like. It's only been a year, I bet there is still a ton of people that miss you." Alex started shaking his head. I frowned. "But why a not." He sighed and pulled out a piece of paper and began writing. After about a minute he handed it to me.

 _'Parahumans change everything. I don't sing anymore, and even if I did I would always get upstaged by the fact that I have powers. My career ended, now I'm a supervillain. That is just how things are. People think I died, let them keep thinking that.'_

I looked up at him and saw his expression had become hard. I then knew there was nothing I was going to be able to do to convince him. I guess Alexander Blane died after all.

"But if you are going with the whole 'Alex is dead' thing, why do you still carry your license around?" Alex took the paper back and quickly scribbled something down on it. He handed it back and I quickly read it.

 _'Because it really throws cops for a loop when they pull me over.'_

I shook my head when suddenly my phone vibrated. I took it out and looked at it briefly.

"Everyone suit up!" I said loudly. "Skitter says we're working with the Protectorate to kill Noelle."

When we arrived at the Protectorate Headquarters they were waiting for us. Assault and Battery met us outside and escorted us in. Genesis was here in a vaguely human form with Brute walking along side her. The two drew more than a few looks.

We climbed in an elevator that would have been such a smooth ride that I wouldn't have even noticed it moving if it weren't for the fact that my range of influence reached outside of it and I could feel the inner workings. While we waited for the elevator to take us up I leaned over to Queen and quietly said,

"When we are in the meeting don't say anything. And don't even look at any Thinkers in the room, you might give them a brain aneurysm or something." Honestly no one understood Queen and her ability to screw with Thinkers minds. I think Tattletale is still a little annoyed her power freaks out whenever she looks at Queen.

"Okay Tsu!" Queen said with all her normal cheerfulness. When the door opened again we were led to a conference room where everyone was waiting.

Skitter and the Undersiders sat on one side of the room. I found it odd that it seemed like every time I saw them again Skitter seemed more and more like the one in charge. Grue still made all the important calls sure, but it was Skitter that came up with plans, that gave him the choices he decided on. Not to mention the only person Bitch seemed to like. Speaking of which, I was going to get that puppy. One way or another.

"Hello everyone!" I said with a generally cheerful tone. People looked my way and tensed. Was I really that bad?

"Paranorms." Miss Militia stated. Her eyes glance over Brute and Genesis for a moment before returning back to me. "Is there a reason these two have accompanied you here?" I gave her my best sly smile before answering.

"Yeah, these are my new recruits." Miss Militia paused for a moment and several people in the room blanched. I turned and looked at one of them and winked.

"That is… Troublesome. But never mind that for now, we're not here to socialize." I found empty seats at the table next to The Undersiders. Brute and Reaper both stood behind me silently. Reaper's scythe was held over my head, and Brute's arms were crossed. Genesis' form floated behind them just behind them.

"Alright," Miss Militia began. "First and foremost, we are having a difficult time getting a threat rating for Noelle but the Thinkers we can contact are saying that we're facing an A class threat."

"The Thinkers you can contact?" Tattletale asked with a raised eyebrow. "Something happen to your best ones? Eleventh Hour? Appraiser?" Miss Militia cleared her throat.

"They… had something of an accident a few weeks back."

"Oh do tell," Troll said while pulling out a bouncy ball from his pocket and bouncing it on a table. Miss Militia sighed.

"We asked them to get a threat level for Queen when the Paranorms took portions of the city for themselves."

"Oh, that was a bad idea," Tattletale said with a little laugh of her own, but it sounded a little strange.

"Well, don't just keep it to yourself, tell me what happened," I said with an ever-widening grin. Miss Militia sighed again.

"Eleventh Hour said the Greek letter Zeta before having an epileptic seizure. When we asked, Appraiser said Queen's threat level registered so far off the visible light spectrum that she came in as gamma radiation and now Appraiser is getting treated for brain cancer. Hunch was also asked and he said, and I quote, 'holy mother of christ, get your shit and get the fuck out'. He then proceeded to have a mental breakdown and is getting treated for PTSD." The room fell silent for a long moment. It was Troll who finally said something.

"Holy shit Queen. You took out three of the Protectorate top Thinkers literally just by existing! You know how long I have be wanting to Troll on those levels? I'm actually feeling a little disappointed in myself right now." Troll's shoulders slumped in comical amounts of feigned depression. Brute reached over and patted him on the shoulder.

"You vill get there one day."

"Anyway," Miss Militia continued, trying to push the conversation forward. "The bottom line is that the Chief Director gave the a-okay and this is now considered an A class threat. Now for everyone to know what we're dealing with." Miss Militia placed herself at the front of the room and began. "We have some tentative ratings, based on what we know we have her down as Brute 8, Changer 2, and a combination of a Striker and Master 10." Troll groaned loudly and leaned back in his chair, causing everyone to look at him.

"Her ability allows her to create clones of anyone she touches. The PRT office believes her to be an A class threat, but Tattletale's expectation is-" She was cut off again when Troll slammed his head against the table and groaned again. Miss Militia shot him a glare.

"Our primary issue is that we can't locate her. She also has a hostage, a young member of the Wards. Locating our target is-"

"Ugh, so boooring" Troll moaned.

"If it is going to be a problem then you can leave," Miss Militia said, a hint of annoyance in her voice." Troll took a deep breath and sat himself up.

"No, I can tough this out." He looked like he was steeling himself, as if bracing for some sort of impact. Miss Militia's gaze lingered on him for a moment before continuing.

"Alright we'll be employing the same protocols we use against-"

"I can't! I just can't do it any more!" Troll leapt to his feet, pulled out a gun and shot himself before anyone had a chance to react.

 **Miss Militia bored Troll to death.**

"Wow," I said. "I'd didn't even know it could work like that." Miss Militia pinched the bridge of her nose and said,

"Can I please continue with what I was saying?" I smiled at her.

"Well, you got about five minutes before he comes back so make it quick."

"First and foremost, we need to make sure that people we cannot defeat do not get close enough to Noelle to get cloned. Which means at all costs we can not, under any circumstances let Troll get anywhere near Noelle. Everyone else, you should know whether or not you should or shouldn't get close to her. Now, there is one precog we have access to that is willing to assist us." The PRT has a precog? When did that happen? "New Wave, if you will." I turned and saw the members of New Wave push their way into the front of the room.

Lady Photon, Laserdream, Flashbang, Brandish, Glory Girl, Panacea, and now PillowMan and DeathKid came into the room. I couldn't help but grin at the still adorable little girl. Although, I couldn't help but notice Panacea and PillowMan were standing oddly close. Glory Girl was maintaining her distance though, I guess things haven't changed that much between them.

"DeathKid," Miss Militia said. "Out of everyone in this room, which of us have the highest chances of dying in the next hour?" DeathKid tilted her head and looked around. Her eyes lingered on each and every one of us. She paused for a moment on Queen and shook her head before continuing.

"Grue, three out of five. Skitter, three-fourths. Imp, one-fourth. Miss Militia, one-half. Glory Girl, four-fifths. Panacea, two-thirds. Tsundere, two-fifths…." She rattled off more names of people in the room, Triumph and the like before finishing with, "Clockblocker, two-thirds. Brother, one-sixteenth." She grew ever paler as she gave the numbers, and PillowMan was holding her up by the time she finished.

"Alright, just one more question, I promise." Miss Militia told her. Pillowman lifted DeathKid onto his back where she struggled to remain awake. "What are the chances Noelle dies in the next few hours?" DeathKid let out a yawn and closed her eyes before murmuring just loud enough for most of us to hear,

"Seventeen out of twenty." People considered that for a few moments. On one hand, almost everyone had around or above a fifty percent chance of death according to DeathKid. But that didn't take into account how Miss Militia would plan around it or the precaution people would take now that they did know. Now doubt the numbers were completely different than they were when DeathKid first said them, but we be stuck in an endless loop even if we could constantly question her about the numbers.

On the other hand, though we knew that there was a significant chance that we won before the day is over. Something that would make more people act recklessly and up those numbers again. It was an interesting balance to be sure. Of course what made worse was at this moment a PRT officer pushed his way through the crowd and handed Miss Militia a phone. A moment after that a television was turned on and Noelle's face appeared.

"Her?" Kid Win asked. "That's the S class threat?"

"She's bigger than she looks," Tattletale offered.

"Quiet," Miss Militia said, "It's a webcam feed. I'm setting it so we'll be transmitting audio only… Hello, Noelle."

"Who is this?" Noelle asked.

"Miss Militia," Miss Militia said, louder.

"The gun woman. Who else is there?"

"Other local heroes," Miss Militia replied.

"Oh. There aren't more? The Undersiders didn't get in touch with you?" Her voice was hollow, almost disappointed.

"It's just us right now."

"Because I smell more," Noelle said. "Which makes it hard to believe you. But you can lie if you have to."

"You can smell us."

"Not you. But it doesn't matter," I leaned back and groaned.

"Oh, fuck off Noelle!" Everyone in the room turned and glared at me, but I wasn't sorry. Noelle on the other hand smiled.

"Tsundere, that means the Paranorms are there too. Good, I want you to hear this."

"Yeah, yeah," I said, waving her off even though she couldn't see me. "You want to gloat, tell all the heroes to kill or give you The Undersiders and probably me and my team too. You probably want us in exchange for escape, or maybe you realize the monster you are and will let the heroes kill you. But honestly? I ran out of fucks to give weeks ago. So go ahead and make your offer to the hero so they can decline it, then we can work together to kill you." Noelle glared at the room through the screen.

"If you're trying to get to me, you're going to have to do better than that."

"Trying to get to you?" I asked. Was that what it seemed like I was doing? Well, if the shoe fits… "No, if I was trying to do that I would point out that you're a monster and that is why all the Travellers abandoned you last night." Noelle looked like she got slapped. She then snarled at the camera.

"That's not true."

"Maybe," I intoned. "But can you be sure?" Noelle glared at the screen for a long time and Miss Militia glared at me. Troll and I grinned at each other.

"I want The Undersiders," Noelle said finally. "Dead or alive, but I want The Paranorms alive."

"Ooh, I'm scared." I wiggled my fingers at the screen and Noelle offered one last glare before stopping the connection. I stretched my arms over my head and a little moan escaped my lips as I did so. "Alright, let's go kill us an A class threat." Miss Militia turned towards me and leaned her weight onto the conference table."

"Tsundere, Paranorms, this alliance is built on a mutual trust. And when you hijack the conversation, blatantly ignore everyone else, and cost us an opportunity to glean information, how do you expect us to trust you enough to fight with us in the upcoming event." I pondered that for a moment. I suppose I was being a little hasty, maybe I had let the fact that I was operating one of the most dangerous teams go to my head a bit. I had to learn to, how would Skitter say it? Play ball? Yeah, do like Skitter and actually try to work with them the same way I work with my own team. But these people didn't exactly deserve my trust either did they? Though, I suppose that was kind of the point of an S class threat, making enemies friends for a time. I sighed.

"I guess you can't, or at least not entirely. You are just going to have to accept that we are here to help and that we will do it as we see fit." I sensed Brute nodding behind me in approval.

"I think we are going to need to put in other measures," Assault said. I turned and looked at him. He and Battery were glaring at me, but so was everyone else in the room. Including Skitter, I think.

"I have to agree," Miss Militia said. "And knowing the danger of The Paranorms and their loose attitude with the unwritten rules, I would be willing to argue and testify a kill order." I felt and say some of the people in the room bristle. I knew what it meant, we all did. It was what the Slaughterhouse Nine had, something that would bring hell down on our heads. She was threatening us, damn her. I couldn't believe it, her solution to a trust issue was a threat. I couldn't tell if I should be bewildered or angry, but the feeling rising in my chest was anything but bewilderment.

"Oh wow!" Troll said sarcastically. "A kill order. I'm sooo scared, whatever am I to do?" Troll turned his mask over in his hands like he was bored and began examining the surface of it. Miss Militia cleared her throat and said,

"While I can't exactly put an effective kill order out on you Troll, I can for your teammates. And it wouldn't be hard with members like Queen of the Castle and Brute the Brute on your team." I could feel Queen shift nervously near me and I suddenly became aware how quiet she had been during this meeting. I glanced back and saw her wide-eyed and looked back and forth nervously. She reminded me a coiled spring, tightened and ready to go off at every moment. I should have realized that she wouldn't like coming here. Heroes represented everything that true posed a risk to her and now I had brought her right into their home. I wish she would have said something, told me she didn't like it. I would have listened to her if she did.

I took a small step backwards and grabbed her hand to reassure her. Her eyes widened a bit and I thought she was about to bolt. But then she realized it was me and gripped my hand tight. She didn't seem any more relaxed, but at least she wasn't fidgeting nervously anymore.

"Oh really?" Troll said, rising from his seat. His demeanour had changed completely. Suddenly the smile that was always on his face suddenly became fixed on his face, the smile no longer reaching his eyes. He dropped his mask on the table and slowly faced Miss Militia with his whole body. His atmosphere of silliness was completely gone.

"In that case, let me make on thing clear." Troll said with deliberate slowness to make sure they caught every word. "If you are directly responsible you harming a single hair on the head of any person on my team, I will swear an immortal war against you. Every hour of every day I will come for you, I will not rest, I will not stop. I will tear this building down and kill everyone in it, I will paint its walls with your blood. I will continue to fight even when you're eighty years old and on your deathbed. There is nothing you can do to stop me, and there will be no reason for me to stop." As soon as Troll was finished I took a step forward, but Queen wouldn't let go of my hand so I moved myself in front of her so it was less obvious.

"I was so close to trying to amend what I had done and promising I will play ball from here on out. But then you threatened us, and now its all over. Have fun fighting Noelle by the way, let us know if it works out." I turned on my heels and started walking, my team right behind me. Then I heard another voice.

"Tsundere, wait." I looked back and saw Skitter standing up. "You don't have to work with us, but Noelle is a threat to you too. She'll be coming after you whether you like it or not. Fight next to us if you won't fight with us." I thought about it for a long, tense moment. I could feel everyone's eyes on me. I let out a frustrated sigh.

"Alright, I won't get in your way if you don't get in mine." I left it at that as we walked right out of the building without another word. Queen held onto my hand all the way there.


	30. Off ramp

A small fly, place strategically underneath Queen's armband, heard the damaged AI said and Tenant cleared it up to be understandable.

 _"Mi-i-i-iss Queen? I have high priority alert."_ Skitter held up a hand loudly stated,

"Queen just received and alert." The heroes froze around her and waited anxiously for her to continue.

"Continue," Queen said in her normal cheerful tone, seemingly undisturbed.

 _"An ukno-zt-n force attacked and sank The Spire 47 seconds ago and now appears to be heading t-t-t-to the bay at rapid speeds."_ The flies felt Queen stiffen then quickly relax as if she only felt a flash of anger and then let it out.

"Put all ships on full assault for anything that gets within firing range that even vaguely resembles this force. Code name opponent: Noelle."

 _"Aye, ay-y-y-y-y-y-y-ztrz- aye Captain! Noelle has arrived in the bay and is currently engaging your three flagships."_

"Tell U battalion to retreat into safe waters."

 _"On it Captain!"_

"She sank The Spire?" Troll asked. His voice sounded a touch exasperated. "That had all my game systems! And the TV!"

"Yeah," Tsundere said. She was very clearly still annoyed with how this meeting had gone, but Skitter supposed Noelle would give her a proper way to vent. "And that was a seventy inch, plasma screen tv. Not to mention Queen's incredible ship."

"She will die," Queen stated decidedly. Skitter wouldn't exactly call it eagerness, but more an anger soothed by a pleasant expectation of revenge. Skitter wasn't sure if that was a good thing, or even if it was an improvement on the blind rage she had come to expect when Queen's machines get destroyed.

"Noelle has attacked Queen's fleet." Skitter told the room. Instantly murmuring started up between the people. "Queen put her ships into full attack mode against anything that looks like Noelle, I don't know what that entails so be careful if you're power is particularly flashy."

"What are they doing now?" Tattletale asked. Miss Militia casted her a glance briefly before returning to Skitter.

"They're heading out to fight." Miss Militia cursed under her breath.

"If Troll gets absorbed by Noelle-"

"She'll make unstoppable angry clones." Tattletale finished, an uncharacteristic grimace passing over her face.

"I suppose it says something," Tenant began, twirling a cane in his hand as he leaned against Miss Militia's shoulder. "That even the most charismatic of your group gets nervous at the idea of there being clones that would do exactly what Troll just got done threatening you all with." Skitter shook her head and mentally pushed him aside.

"Wait, Troll isn't going with them." Skitter waited to see what he was doing when suddenly he pinched a fly that was hidden in clothing between his finger and thumb. He held it up so the fly was looking at him directly in his face and then brought his other hand up.

"He is… flipping me off and now he is going the other direction." Skitter said lamely.

"We need to get moving," Miss Militia stated. "Noelle targeting Queen's fleet buys us some time where lives aren't risked, but after the damage she sustained after the fight with Brigadier it won't last long. And if Troll's action is any indication, then Tsundere appears to understand the danger of having him near Noelle."

"Which then leaves how we're going to attack Noelle." Tattletale supplied. Miss Militia nodded in agreement in continued.

"We treated like an Endbringer attack, only our target is much more vulnerable. Any objection to me taking point? Eidolon isn't usually comfortable with this sort of thing and I'm the ranking parahuman in Brockton Bay." She looked around, but no one dissented.

"Right, first thing is that Noelle can make and control clones of people she touches. Unless Tattletale can say otherwise, assume they can retain the memories of the person cloned. Keep track of your teammates and used ranged attacks as much as possible. We're going to need to hit hard if we want to do meaningful against her. We're splitting up into groups, everyone going in the teams you arrived in. Best to fight alongside people you know. Dragon won't deploy here unless necessary, but she has supplied us the armbands." Skitter caught Tattletale sighing at the mention Dragon won't be there. Skitter nearly did too, all those mechs would be a great use against Noelle. The fact that they weren't made her a little annoyed.

"Now we know that Noelle is currently in the bay battling Queen's ships…" Skitter suddenly switched her second mind to the task of paying attention to the conversation. Whatever it was they were discussing she didn't need to be an active part of it. Instead, it was time she brainstormed with her tenant.

'Any idea's yet?' She asked. Tenant held up his cane and examined it.

"You know? I am sure this cane comes from my life before, I just don't remember where. And no, I haven't come up with anything so you can tell your subconscious to stop insulting me. You, on the other hand, have come up with a multitude of ideas. Only problem being…"

'They would need to get tested in the field.' Skitter finished.

"Bingo, you got it. However…" Tenant paused for a few moments while he pondered something briefly. "I have to admit I'm curious about her clones. She clearly has some sort of psychic link that lets her control them to some degree, and she copies their power vaguely. So how is she making a link between a person's body and power? And more importantly, is it something we can exploit?"

'How would you exploit something like that?'

"Think about it." She did, and it didn't take her third mind very long to link common terms and her first mind to put together the abstract concepts.

'Queen.' She was like an EMP to Thinker powers, and by extension whatever Noelle's ability to control the clones and copy powers.

"Sure, it is easy enough to point out." Tenant stated. "But the only way you could apply it was if you could actually convince Queen to throw herself at Noelle without any defences. And good luck with that." Skitter shook her head.

'It's not a great option, but I'll keep it in mind.' With that, Skitter turned back toward the conversation.

"I would like to meet Eraser." Tattletale was telling Miss Militia. She shook her head.

"We need to be going, is there any reason you would like to see him?" Skitter searched her mind for the name. She suddenly remembered the event she first met Queen, the event with The Merchants. She had discovered a kid that had triggered in the madness that Queen had caused and pulled him out, only for him to leave and join the Wards. His power if she recalled correctly, which of course now she always did, was creating controlled orbs around him that would obliterate everything within them. But that didn't tell her why she wanted to see him.

"Then if that's it.," Miss Militia said, "Then let's get moving. Undersiders, go with Myrddin's Wards and go after Parian and Flechette in her territory. If anyone has any questions ask using the armbands and now go!"

Capes began flowing out of the room and those that could fly disappeared as soon as they had a chance to get going. Eidolon was the first to be gone.

Skitter and the rest of The Undersiders sat the furthest away from the door, forcing them to leave last. However, it did give them the chance to meet the Chicago Wards; Tecton, Grace, Wanton, and Raymancer. Their introductions were brief and Tattletale got their powers quickly.

An officer approached Skitter and held out the utility compartment she had agreed to take off before coming in with Miss Militia as well as one of Dragon's armbands. Skitter grabbed them and easily pried them out of the officer's hands as he attempted to not let go of them. Skitter didn't pay much mind to the act, her body was well above the normal strength.

"Hey, Skitter?" She turned to see PillowMan and Panacea standing behind her. PillowMan scratched his head and chuckled a little anxiously. "Do you mind if we fight with you?"

"You don't want to fight with New Wave?" Skitter asked him. PillowMan and Panacea shared a look before he answered.

"We do, it's just that there are still some hard feelings going around. Especially between Amy and her sister." Panacea grimaced. PillowMan nudged her and she shot him a dirty look. He nudged her again and gestured at The Undersiders. Panacea scowled and took a single step forward and addressed Skitter directly.

"I wanted to thank you." Panacea said, her tone a little too forced. "I didn't accept it at first, but I'm glad of the help you guys offered me when the Nine attacked." When it didn't look like she was going to say anymore PillowMan stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Honestly, I don't think New Wave would have stayed together much longer if it took any more losses." Skitter nodded to them.

"Alright, glad to have you aboard. We should get going now." Skitter looked to Tecton who nodded in agreement.

"We'll requisition a van and then we can get going. The big capes should have gotten a good lead on the fight by then."

"We'll ride." Skitter said and gestured to Bitch with her head. Bitch nodded with a grunt and started to increase the size of Bentley and Bastard. Skitter started strapping on her armour as Tecton left to go get the van. As she did so they all began walking, heading down the elevator and out the front door. Tecton met them outside with the van ready to go.

Skitter decided to climb one to Bentley with Bitch while Grue, Tattletale, Imp and Regent all climbed into the back of the van with the Chicago Wards. The moment the back doors on the van shut Bitch ordered Bentley ahead, in the general direction Noelle was going to be.

About two minutes in Tenant spoke up. "You know Skitter, I'm no expert but I don't think buildings are supposed to bend like that." Skitter's second mind looked back at the model of the city her third mind had constructed and found a few buildings entering her range that were bending slightly. That would be Vista, but she had disappeared hours ago. Which meant Noelle must have gotten to her. Skitter frowned, they had only just started and they had already lost one hero. Not a good sign.

"Trouble ahead." Skitter said instantly and Bitch picked up speed the direction she indicated. She saw the buildings before she found the pseudo-Vista. The walls were thin and supports were twisted. The foundations were bent oddly as well.

"Laying out the groundwork for future collapse." Tenant mentioned. Skitter was about to agree with him when suddenly she found the Vista clone. Dead on the ground, laying in a pool of her blood and a bullet hole in her skull.

Skitter told Bitch to stop when they got close. Tecton and the other climb out of the van to see what was wrong. On the street in front of them were three bodies, each one being a Vista clone. None of them were wearing costumes and they all looked incredibly artificial compared to a real person's features. One in particular was incredibly tall and long legged, her bones bending out of shape in a crescent-like form.

Tecton knelt low to the ground and examined on of the bodies. He rolled a Vista over and studied the bullet hole in her skull. "Who did this?" He asked. Tattletale had watched him move the body around and was about to answer when a loud gunshot rang out and a bullet struck the building a few feet above them, a smoke trail coming from it.

"Troll," Tattletale said, looking up at the bullet hole. Suddenly another object came flying in, and arrow carrying a small package. The arrow landed just a foot in front of Skitter from where she had been standing.

"Skilled in snipers and crossbows," Tattletale murmured. "Good enough to land a perfect shot from three hundred meters from here with an arrow had a heavy package on it." Tattletale was looking in the direction the arrow had come from. Skitter turned and saw Troll's figure on a tall building in the distance, waving some weapon cheerfully. Skitter reached down and opened the package attached to the arrow and pulled out a walkie-talkie hand radio. There was a note inside with it.

'Tsundere wanted me to give this to you to communicate. She's on channel twelve. I'm on channel eleven if you wanted to have a private conversation. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) -Troll' Skitter tossed the note into the air behind her and brought the hand radio up and made sure it was on the right channel before pressing the button and speaking into it.

"Skitter here."

"Skitter," Tsundere answered immediately. "Listen, Queen's last ship has lure Noelle out of the immediate bay in hopes that she can use one of her real weapons without destroying part of the city. Queen says we got ten minutes before Noelle has to destroy the ship or she can fire. I need to talk to you, can you make it to the south end of the bay?"

"Not in ten minutes." Skitter answered her. "But we can talk over the radio if you want." There was a long pause on Tsundere's end.

"Is anyone else listening?" Skitter looked up at Tattletale and the Chicago Wards. Imp and Regent were grinning and shaking their head. Skitter took a breath.

"No." Tsundere sighed into the microphone.

"I don't know what to do." She was met with silence for a long moment as Skitter considered an answer.

'Tenant?'

"Don't look at me," he answered, "You want to know what colour sucker the doctor gave you when you were six, I'm the guy to ask. Emotional support? That's normally where you come in." Skitter quirked her lips and brought the radio up to her mouth.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm mean I don't know what to do!" Tsundere answered immediately, a touch exasperated. "Between myself and the others I've got some of the most effective capes in the world, but I could attack Noelle all day and I still wouldn't get anywhere. All that happens is that I end up risking getting absorbed."

"What do you want me to tell you?"

"I want you to tell me you have some sort of plan, that you know some weakness. You always have some way to beat the enemy, even though your power is so weak. Here I am with tons of power, but I don't have the brain to be clever." Skitter paused and considered that for a moment.

"Why are you having a difficult time fighting Noelle? specifically?" Tsundere huffed on the other end.

"She's tough, which isn't that much of a problem really. But she can heal too and if she touches you you'll get absorbed and become a clone. Queen's gear and my swords and Genesis are the only things that can actually fight her, I don't want to risk Brute or Troll getting absorbed." Skitter was about to correct her and say that clones of Brute wouldn't actually be a danger, but she thought against it. Better to stay on topic.

"Tsundere, what do you do when you fight someone who can heal? Like Aegis?"

"You hurt them hard enough they can't heal from it. But-"

"What do you do when someone is extremely tough?"

"You hit them harder."

"Exactly. Noelle is an Endbringer and of you ever fought an Endbringer you would face these exact same problems. Only you wouldn't expect to be able to do something serious to an Endbringer would you?" Tsundere paused for a moment.

"No, I suppose not."

"Right, what is important is that you do as much damage as possible and hope it will be enough." Skitter waited silently for an answer. She glanced at the people around her who were staring at her curiously.

"That's all you have? Really?"

"It's the reality of Endbringer attacks."

"I guess, but when you phrase it like that it all seems incredibly pointless. I was hoping you would have one of those really clever plans that you give me some hope we can actually win this."

"I make clever plans because I know how to use my power and other people's power effectively. You have everything you need to make a much more effective plan, you just have to figure out how to make all your power work together."

"I- wait, that gives me an idea. I need to-" she was interrupted by a massive explosion of water erupting from the ocean just outside the bay rising up into the sky like some incredible geyser. The water reached so far into the sky that it blocked out the sun for a few moments before falling back into the ocean.

"Damn it, it only slowed her down," Tsundere swore into the radio. "Listen, I've got to go. But you gave me an idea. You'll know it when you see it."

"Eidolon is has found Noelle and has asked all other capes remain in position as he engages her by himself." Miss Militia's voice came out of the armbands they all wore.

"We need to get over there," Tattletale said. Skitter nodded in agreement. Is then Tecton stepped forward and said,

"No, we have orders to stay where we are." Tattletale shook her head at him.

"Noelle could turn Vista into these things, do you really think leaving Eidolon alone with Noelle is that great of an idea?"

"I do," Grace said. "Eidolon is a member of the Triumvirate, he knows what he is doing." Skitter shook her head.

"It doesn't matter, if he is fighting Noelle that means the Paranorms are there too. Which means we might as well join the fight." Tecton and the rest of the Chicago Wards looked at each other for a moment he looked back at Tattletale and Skitter.

"Fine, let's get going." Tattletale and Skitter took off their armbands to avoid getting tracked and after a moment to consider it, the Chicago Wards did as well. As Tecton climbed into the van again Tattletale gestured over her shoulder with a thumb.

"I got to have a talk with Skitter, going to hitch a ride with them." Tecton offered a noncommittal grunt as Grace shut the doors behind them. Tattletale climbed on behind Skitter and Bitch urged Bentley forward.

"So," Tattletale said the moment they were moving. "Tsundere turns to you when she needs advice, interesting don't you think?"

"What do you mean?" Skitter asked in response as she shifted her seating so she wasn't as uncomfortable on the dog.

"I mean Tsundere has some level of trust in you and turns to you when there is a problem. A good position to be in when you consider she runs the Paranorms." Skitter suddenly heard Tenant chuckling in the background. She turned her head to see him standing impossibly still on Bastard's back as he ran.

"She's right," Tenant remarked. "The Paranorms are dangerous and possibly the loosest cannon you're ever going to see. If Tsundere trusts you that is only an advantage to you, and it would be even better if you could find a way to become her crutch, make her rely on you."

"And what exactly do you think I would do with that?" Skitter asked the two of them.

"Assist her," Tattletale answered.

"Control her," Tenant responded. Skitter glanced between the two of them for a moment when Tattletale sighed.

"What's he saying?" Skitter smirked, of course, she would know she was also talking to Tenant.

"The same thing you are, only a bit more extreme." Tattletale paused to consider what she meant, Skitter assumed her power supplied the answer.

"Well, he was a point," Tattletale said. "But I don't think you could control Tsundere, only influence her. And to be honest, I think we are going to need it."

"What do you mean?"

"The Protectorate is making a plan to take out the Paranorms." A frown suddenly grew on Skitter's face as she considered that.

"A plan? Like a plan of attack?" Tattletale shook her head.

"I'm getting a different vibe from them, like whatever they're going to do is going to be much more subtle than what we're used to. The way they were looking at the Paranorms was odd, and a lot of them were alarmed when the Paranorms decided they weren't going to officially be part of the truce. But they didn't do anything to stop her from leaving as if they didn't want to give away their plan. I'm fairly sure they've brought in another Tinker to assist them to." Skitter's frown deepened. If the Protectorate launched a well thought out plan that didn't rely on offensive force, the Paranorm's wouldn't stand much of a chance at the moment. By herself, Tsundere was only slightly above average in terms of capes. Queen's threat comes from the number of her machines, which had gotten decimated by Brigadier and then the remainder wiped out by Noelle just a bit ago. Reaper and Genesis we difficult threats to deal with, but Reaper by himself didn't stand to cause too many issues. Really Brute and Troll were the only difficult ones, and both could be subdued with knockout gas. By themselves, Skitter could recognize that each of the Paranorm's had their own weakness to exploit. But together they only had one, Tsundere.

"Odd isn't it?" Tenant said, now eating an apple. Though for what reason, Skitter didn't know. But then again Skitter didn't know why he took a visual form at all, it wasn't like he could see or do anything with the image he created. "That the Paranorms greatest weakness right now would be an enemy like you? Someone capable of spotting the disorder and chaos in between that massive power they pack." She didn't know how to answer him. He wasn't wrong, but that meant that the Protectorate was getting smarter if they were about to pull something like that of. Not good for anyone, but if it failed or blew up in their faces then just maybe it could work out in the end.

"What do you think I should do?" Skitter asked. Tattletale shrugged.

"Guide her. Tell what she needs to know, teach her even. She'll listen to you."

"You think so?" Tattletale rolled her eyes.

"Skitter, It's pretty clear that you're Tsundere's go-to source for pretty much anything." Confusion passed over Skitter's face. She began searching her mind for all her interaction with Tsundere ever, trying to find something out of the ordinary that would explain what Tattletale meant. But in every instance, it was just normal Tsundere.

"I don't get it."

"Skitter, you were there when she first triggered. She followed you the moment she met you. And she likely only joined us because of you. All of us have a reason for being villains, but not Tsundere. There was absolutely no reason she couldn't have been a hero instead. Then she chose to work for you, to take orders from you. When you suggested she make her own team she did. When you said you should meet with Coil and the Travelers to form an alliance she did. When you told her to come to the PHQ today she did. And all through that meeting, she kept glancing at you, trying to gauge what you thought about it all. Bottom line, Tsundere is still working for you, she just doesn't know it."

"I suppose so…. and the PRT isn't going to give us an easy ride unless the Paranorms tone it back a bit. So I can use this to keep them reeled in if I want to."

"Yup, or get them to attack even." Skitter was about to respond when they came around the corner and saw Noelle getting all the moisture sucked out of her body by Eidolon.

Golden streaks of light rockets from all around as Tsundere danced around the edge of the moister drawing effect. The shurikens she was throwing embedded themselves deep before exploding lightly. Miniature missiles were coming from Queen's general direction, though the pink smoke she had deployed made her impossible to follow. Brute was around as well, launching pieces of rubble where ever he could find them. Troll and Genesis were nowhere to be seen for the moment, but surely one of them will turn up eventually.

"Everyone get out!" Skitter shouted. "The fight is here!"


	31. Hit and run

I beheaded a Leet clone right as it pointed a gun at me. Before its head hit the ground I spun around and slashed my sword at the Über clone that had just taken a step at the edge of my sphere of influence. A force blade flew from my sword and bisected him down the middle. I was playing around today, and consequently, my power wasn't doing anything to protect enemies that entered my range.

I felt the throwing knives enter my range above me and promptly cut them out of the air with my sword. I threw the golden shurikens back at where the knives came from, causing a series of small explosions that I hoped kill the Circus clone. I turned and saw Noelle vomit up another slurry of clones. I looked up and saw Eidolon floating backwards and away from the fight, his moisture attack ending.

Seeing that, I took it as my cue to fly in and draw a katana through each of them before they had a chance to keep going. I noticed Vista, the real Vista, on the ground a moment before Noelle grabbed her and drew her back into her body. Gross, another reason I don't want to get touched by her. Not to say she didn't try.

She barely brushed past me as I dodge back out of the way and darted into an alley. Noelle turned to face me and shot me a look before vomiting up more clones. I returned the look and drew my second katana, and red glow enveloping the blade in my right hand and a blue glow taking the one in my left.

"Let's play," I said to myself before running straight for her.

I ran past her, drawing my red sword across the surface of her skin. To everyone else, it probably looked like I teleported from one side to the other with my speed. I figured that by how the fiery explosion happened after I came to a complete stop.

Noelle roared angrily and turned on me when suddenly the ground fell out from underneath her. I looked behind her to see some Tinker hanging out with Skitter and the rest of The Undersiders.

"Elemental Strike!" I called as I slashed both swords forward. As expected two energy blades matching the colours of each respective sword flew forward and cut into Noelle before exploding violently. Fire, ice, and even a little bit of thunder went shooting randomly around the injury they attack caused. Noelle screamed and stumbled backwards further into the hole the Tinker was making.

I started making my way to Skitter but all I could think about was how that special attack tore down more than half a building when I used it against The Nine. Though to Noelle, it might as well be a flesh wound.

"'Sup?" I asked. I didn't make eye contact with her or anyone else. Instead, I watched the appearance of a handful more capes. Miss Militia, The Wards, some weird Wards from out of town. Noelle began climbing out of the hole Tecton was perpetuating around her and was instantly met with a bombardment of powers from the new capes on the scene. Eidolon descended again and started dropping some sort of effect that threw Noelle and her clones onto the ground. Gravity-warping?

"Just trying to not die and all," Imp said, suddenly appearing next to me with an arm on my shoulder. Of course, I knew she was there but she caused the Wards to jump a little. It was about then I noticed each of the out of town Wards had Tinker guns in their hands. Not as great as Queen's railguns, but enough they wouldn't have to get as close as I did which I suppose was an advantage.

"So, has our fearless leader come up with a plan yet?" I asked Imp. Grue coughed into his hand and said,

"Actually Skitter has come up with most of the plans recently." I looked at him blankly.

"I know, that's what I said." I couldn't see his expression behind the mask, but I bet it was priceless. It made Imp cackle at least.

Skitter was observing the situation calmly and completely silently. Noelle was taking a lot of hits from everyone, particularly Eidolon's gravity blasts. Tecton made sure she had trouble getting out of the hole, which became impossible once everything else she had to deal with was hitting her. She lashed out with her body whenever she could, getting some close calls against some of the out of town Wards. But she wasn't producing any clones. I wasn't as clever as Skitter, but even I could see that meant she was preparing for something.

Suddenly one of the out of town capes, one that had a power to turn himself into a living projectile suddenly when down with a gaping hole in his shoulder. He was crawling out of the way when a massive clawed hand came down and appeared to have crushed him, but I knew he was actually absorbed.

"Tenant, play a rewind." I heard Skitter mutter to herself. She probably didn't even realize she was doing it. I could only imagine how that felt, where thinking words and speaking them were just as common to the point you couldn't tell the difference anymore.

"She isn't killing them. She's keeping them inside of her, alive." Tattletale swore under her breath and kept looking at the situation.

"Skitter," I asked, "Tell me you have something."

"I'm working on it, just need a little more time." Skitter answered through grit teeth. I shook my head.

"I need to get back in there and help, they're going to need my power." As soon as I said Noelle jumped ridiculously high for her size and nearly clawed Eidolon out of the air. He flew out of her reach and then kept going, likely to pick new powers. Immediately Noelle started spewing dozens of clones out. Several groups of Vistas, Leets, Übers, Circus, and what I guessed to be that other hero she just got. Immediately the barge on Noelle practically stopped as they turned to deal with them. I took a step forward, raising my swords, when I felt a hand grabbing my arm.

"A while ago," Skitter began hastily, "You said you had an idea. What was it?"

"It'll take too long to explain." I was actually kind of excited to use it, totally the wrong time and place for it, but I really wanted to use it. The only problem is we only had one chance with it. "It's big and deadly." I finished. Hopefully, that would tell her what she would need to know.

"Deadly enough to kill her?" I paused for a moment.

"Maybe completely occupy or pin her for a few minutes, but if time with Eidolon or something it might just work." Skitter nodded and suddenly clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.

"Wanton, Raymancer, Grace, help Bitch deal with the clones. Grue use your power to keep Noelle distracted on the battlefield. Regent, see if you can affect any part of Noelle or her clones. Tsundere, keep attacking Noelle with everything you have, don't hold back anything. But see if you can find and cut out the capes she has inside of her. Tecton, I want you to follow me and we're going to need to get Clockblocker from the Wards. Imp, search and rescue as well as killing any clones you can sneak behind." There was nodded all around and finally Skitter turn to me and said, "Get ready to bring this thing you have the moment I give the signal."

"Right," I answered quickly before turning towards Noelle. Suddenly one of Parian's dolls had appeared on the scene and Ballistic was here two. Unexpected, but good for the help. I crouched down and aimed for Noelle's human head.

"Death Spiral!" I couldn't see anything when I was the spinning projectile of death that the move was. I was only aware of my arms and katanas moving faster than the eye could see as I violently spun towards Noelle. I was aware when I slowed down slightly as I passed through her torso and out the other side, however. I did a flip and stuck the landing, using my momentum to turn around.

The creature that Noelle had become had paused but Noelle's human portion was still growing back. Damn it. I know what we're up against and all, but for all the times my power felt like complete bullshit for it not to be working well enough now really bothered me.

Suddenly I really pushed with my power. Instead of the gently progressive flow from me, I shoved my power, increased the pressure and kicked things up a notch. I had no idea what would happen, besides the fact that I'll have to sleep a week to compensate, but I felt a power surge. Making me feel faster, stronger, tougher. I raised both katanas and suddenly felt the beginnings of transformations on the edge of my consciousness. Forcing my power this way made them slower to grow, but they were coming. I already knew the choices that I would have.

The Witch, the first transformation I ever did and one with telekinesis, and the flame fisted Brawler. Another one I had been before. The Witch will suit me better for the fight, but I still had time before I would be able to make the change. For now, I'll content myself with ripping this monster to shreds.

I spun on my heels and darted forward again, this time dragging my katana across one of her legs. Several of the out of town Wards were bombarding Noelle with some sort of Tinker made gun, but it was doing much but annoying her. Suddenly Eidolon descended back down on the area and held out his hand towards Noelle. A massive arc of lightning leapt from his fingers and struck her human form. Noelle reacted as if she had been hit with a truck and began to stumble backwards.

"Fury cut!" I shouted. Immediately my katanas became a whirlwind around me as I delivered thousands of cuts all over her body. When I was finished I was on the other side of Noelle and Eidolon struck her with lighting again.

I stood back for a moment and study the cut I had made as they rapidly closed. Just before I was about to give up and jump back into the fight I noticed a patch of green peeking out from under one cut. I zeroed in on it and darted forward.

Noelle suddenly released another slurry of vomit and clones. But in them I notice her vomiting up someone in a costume. But the clones didn't have costumes, which meant this had to be the real thing.

Some of Grue's darkness washed over Noelle like a wave as I ran forward. As loath as I was to touch the vomit I stepped in it and grabbed the costumed one just as the blinded Noelle attempted to reclaim him. I darted back out, pulling him behind me.

I noticed he was one of the out of town Wards and dropped him off by his group before turning back and looking over the scene again. Eidolon was striking Noelle with massive thunderbolts every so often and Grue was keeping her blind. Miss Militia had joined the fight and was firing rockets at her. Everyone else was concerned with fighting clones. But every now and then Noelle would capture or kill one of the capes dealing with the clones. We had slowed her down incredibly but she was still gaining ground steadily.

I darted forward again, no doubt moving so fast that I practically teleported to the other side of the battlefield. I found the spot I had noticed before and shouted, "Diamond cut!" My two katanas made four deep cuts into Noelle's skin in the shape of a diamond. A few more slashes and I removed a large chunk of flesh and found Vista underneath. I grabbed her and pulled her out as I fell back to the ground. I heard Noelle screaming again and turned only to see her rearing up to step on me.

Clutching on to Vista I leapt backwards out of the way just as her foot came crashing down on where I had been. But the moment her foot came down she vomited directly at me. I dropped Vista to the ground and lifted both katanas. I took a step forward for each clone I cut out of the air. When I had cut the last one in half I did a massive backflip towards where I had left Vista, my right hand throwing out three shurikens that killed three more clones.

I grabbed Vista as two Über clones attempted to attack me. I dragged us out of the way and was about to take towards Miss Militia when suddenly my hand radio went off.

"Tsundere, we're ready. We need you to do that thing you said, push her back through the buildings she is standing in front of." There was too much going on for me to tell if it was Skitter or Tattletale talking, but either way I grinned. It was time.

I fished out the radio and switched to channel five. "Brute," I said. "It's time."

"On it, yaes." He answered. I stepped back, looked up at the sky and waited.

I saw it descending down from the sky and felt a childlike glee rise in my chest. I found myself rocking on my feet as I waited impatiently. Miss Militia was shooting me a look, wondering why I had stopped fighting. Then it landed.

Queen's battle mech landed feet first right in the middle of the fighting, Brute's aim was impeccable. It dramatically rose from a crouching position to stand a little taller than Noelle. It wasn't a sleek or fast as the mech Queen had battled Brigadier in, but it was large and carried more weapons so I'll let it slide. It was much more bulky, with a massive black chest plate seeming to make up half of it. Its arms and legs were coloured black and pink and were a similar bulky design. It was perfect.

I leaped through the air and landed right on top of it, standing on its shoulder. I knocked on its head with a grin and a door opened on the back if it. I climbed in and grinned at Queen as she gestured to the seat next to her. The instant I had entered the mech my sphere of influence stopped being a sphere. Instead, it flowed throughout the exact dimensions of the mech, letting me feel every last part of it. Reaper was standing in the compartment as well and nodded to me once before turning ghost and sliding into the machine. I jumped into my seat and pressed a button labelled 'microphone'.

"Behold!" I said, my voice getting projected over the entire area. Almost everyone paused and looked at us, save for Noelle and Eidolon. "Queen's mech, my anime mech physics, and Reaper's power all combined to make The Ultimate Kickass Power Stacking Robot!" I grabbed my hand radio switched to Troll's channel knowing he would be watching through the scope of his rifle.

"Troll, did giant Japanese letters appear when I said that?"

"Oh yeah, definitely." I grinned.

"Write them down so we know how to say kickass in Japanese later. Now, Queen? Let's go punch a Noelle." Queen grinned at me excitedly and pressed a different button.

"AI," Queen said, "Give Tsu full control of the weapons systems."

" _Aye ay-ee-e Captain!"_ It answered back. Two joysticks popped up next to me and a screen came down from the ceiling in front of me showing me a full view of everything in front of us.

"Blue buttons for turrets, red buttons for missiles," Queen said in her sing song voice. "Green for cannons and purple for swords. Yellow for lasers and orange for EMP. And all the other colours do something." I looked down at the joysticks. Each had blue triggers on the front and red buttons on top. My seat had a rainbow of buttons but I was already forgetting what they each did. Guess I'll have to figure it out as I go.

"Hey there," A male voice suddenly came out of the speakers. "Reaper here. Mind if I give controlling this thing a go?" I looked at Queen. She looked a little put off by the question but shrugged and looked away without saying anything.

"You're good to go Reaper," I said, my grin getting wider with each passing second. Then the mech punched Noelle in her very human face.

I held on to both triggers and saw four different streams of turret fire pelleting Noelle, small holes opening up with each one. One of the mouths opened up and began to vomit up clones but Reaper placed one metal fist straight into its mall.

"Not today!" I shouted through the speakers and pressed on the red buttons. Missiles fired out of the mechs back and arced through the air, exploding against Noelle and sending her reeling. Reaper leaned us back and suddenly place a massive foot straight into the middle of Noelle's body, sending the entire monstrosity into the building behind it.

In the few moments Noelle was lost in the wreckage Queen leapt back into the seat next to me and cheered, "My turn!" She slammed on a few buttons and turned a few a few nobs. In response I felt the mech shift through my power as the chest plates slid open to reveal another gun. Suddenly a red and orange laser exploded out of the chest area and obliterated the entire building Noelle had been shoved in. Queen giggled as the laser shrank back into the mech and the chest plates slid back into place.

Suddenly a blackened Noelle sprung from the ashes of the building right at us. Reaper barely had time to react, pulled an arm right in front of us just in time to catch her. We slid back about twenty feet before Reaper threw her off again. I felt parts of the mech shifting again, though not in response to anything we were doing. Then Reaper reached behind the mech and pulled out a sword with the identifiable red edge of Queen armour piercing blades.

Noelle lashed forward and one of her claws sank into the mech's right shoulder. I slammed on one of the buttons near me and suddenly one of Noelle's face got four sonic beams. The threw her off long enough that Reaper swung the blade straight down onto on of her legs. Surprisingly it only went about halfway in before becoming stuck.

It was then Eidolon suddenly re-entered the battle by flying in and shooting Noelle with beams that reminded me of Legend, only purple. Noelle suddenly turned and charged in another direction, causing her to inadvertently assist Reaper in ripping the blade out of her flesh.

Her run was suddenly cut short as a cape I recognized as Chevalier suddenly appeared and slammed his massive cannon blade against her. Reaper took the moment she was stuck and threw her back into the wreckage of the houses we kicked her into a few moments ago.

"Tsundere," Skitter's voice said. I reached down and pulled out the radio.

"Yup?"

"She is almost there, you just have to push her about thirty feet back."

"I'm on it," I answered her and pressed the missile button again. It just so happened that I did that at the same time as Chevalier pulled the trigger on his cannonblade. The resulting explosion awed me just a little. However, I wasn't expecting for Noelle to come barreling out of it before the fire had even cleared and charge right into us.

I had just enough time to grab Queen and pull her closer to me before Noelle threw us to the ground. We were thrown from our seats, the two of us flying towards the ceiling. I cushioned the fall for the Queen, but that meant I took the force of both of us on myself. My lower back slammed against some metal followed by my head making a loud cracking sound against the ceiling. Pain shot all up my back and my head began to throb. I realized a moment later my vision had gone all funky. It was like seeing everything in black and white but in a blue hue, also slightly distorted. When we settled I felt Queen struggling to get back up.

Noelle was currently attempting to claw through the top part of the armour and had us pinned to the ground. The mech's right arm was pinned and the left one had stopped functioning. I tried to move slowly and immediately gave up. Trying to move my torso in any way hurt like hell, and not in a good way.

"I can't move." Reaper stated.

"Where are the capes when you need them?" I said weakly. Queen coughed and said,

"AI, detonate outer armour."

The explosion ripped through Noelle and lifted her off us slightly. Reaper took the chance and punched her with the pommel of the sword he had. Eidolon and Chevalier decided it was then they were going jump in and fight her.

The blinding pain returned as Reaper rightend the mech and caused me to rolled. I groaned loudly as I tried and failed to stop myself from moving.

"Tsundere? Are you alright?" Queen asked, a little more panicked than what I expected.

"Hurt." I groaned. "I'll live, but you're going to have to man the guns."

"Let me help you," Queen said desperately as she tried to find a way to grab me and move me that didn't hurt.

"Queen, we need to push Noelle through those buildings there. Go, do that." Queen hesitated for a moment before running back to her seat. As she and Reaper began fighting her, I grit my teeth and struggled to my feet. I cried out a little as my back seared painfully. I clenched my fist and moved stiffly to my seat. Once I got into it I laid back and tried to stay as still as possible. Not easy when you're riding in a multi-ton robot.

Eidolon, Cheaviler, and us had pushed her back more or less to where she had been in the broken building beforehand. But we weren't getting much further. She was now producing clones that were keeping Chevalier occupied and Eidolon looked like he might fly away to pick a new power set at any moment.

"AI," Queen said. "Reroute all nonessential power into upward thrusters."

"Reaper," I said as soon as I understood what Queen was about to do. "Tackle her." I grabbed onto the edges of my seat for dear life and wished that Queen had thought to include seat belts as Reaper crouched down.

As soon as he jumped forward all the thrusters kicked in and I was pushed deeper into my seat as we gain momentum before crashing into Noelle. I barely managed to stay seated as the impact shook the entire mech and tried to throw me forward. The ceiling dented in and cause me to briefly panic over whether or not it was going to collapse completely.

Suddenly all the lights in the mech went out and it started skidding across the ground. I felt my power return to its normal sphere shape as we ground to a halt. I was aware of Reaper materializing into his ghost form in the room. I wasn't sure how long he had possessed the mech, but he wouldn't be able to go completely physical for a while yet. Queen slowly rose up and felt around before her hand found my shoulder and clutched me tighter. I would have liked nothing more than to just lay here until someone eventually told me to move, but we had bigger problems. Even though the pain was blindly debilitating I had to get up and see what I could do. Besides, if I knew my power as well as I thought I did, it wouldn't let me stay down when it was more dramatic for me to keep going.

I rose to my feet and clenched my teeth to keep screams of pain escaping my lips as pain roared across my lower back and my head began to throb more. I felt Queen slid underneath my right arm to support me for a moment. It only helped a little, but I'll take what I could get. The dark room was suddenly illuminated as someone ripped the crushed door off the mech. I looked up and saw Brute standing in the sunlight as some sort of gorilla with claws stood behind him. Genesis, I realized.

"Brute," I said weakly, struggling to say anything without gasping in pain. "Carry." Brute nodded once and climbed into the control hub before lifting me from Queen's hold. I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my fist as Brute carried me bridal style out of the wreckage. I had one arm draped across his neck for additional support.

"Christ! What happened?" I heard Grue's voice. I chuckled darkly and opened my eyes again. Again, the brightness of the sun blinded me for a few seconds so I couldn't see exactly what was happening, but I didn't hear any fighting going on. Whatever they did it must have stopped Noelle, or at least stopped her for the moment.

"She was thrown against the walls of the mech," Tattletale said. "She'll be fine though, just needs to rest a bit."

"What happened to Noelle?" I asked her. I looked around and recognized most of the heros were here now. PillowMan as shooting an endless stream of pillows down a hole. I noticed Panacea and Clockblocker standing nearby. There was were two people within my sphere of influence behind Brute. I recognized one as Skitter because of the Tinker tech on her costume.

"We had Tecton create a hole." She said, coming around the other side to face me. "I then stretched two pieces of silk over the hole and had Clockblocker freeze them before you pushed her down it. She is currently at the bottom in four pieces, getting covered in foam and pillows."

"Is she dead?"

"Nope," Tattletale said. "But we bought ourselves some time." I groaned, half in pain half at the sheer absurdity of a problem that Noelle was posing towards us.

"Then I hope you have some sort of plan." Skitter nodded and looked up.

"I have a few in the works." I craned my head to try and see what she was looking at. Alexandria, and Legend, floating in the air with Eidolon and Cheaviller. The big guns were here, but we had just hit it with the biggest gun we had and it didn't amount to much. Though, if anyone could get us out of this I was willing to bet it was Skitter.

"Can you walk me through a few of them?" Skitter and Tattletale looked at each other for a moment. Skitter looked back towards me and took a step forward.

"There is one option." She began. "Noelle has some sort of mental connection between her clones and herself. There is a good chance if she pulled in Queen that she would-"

"No," I interrupted. "Absolutely not." I could feel Queen in my sphere come closer. "Find a new plan."

"It's a decent idea," Tattletale noted. "No one knows why Queen messes up Thinker powers like she does, and I certainly can't use mine to figure it out. If someone is trying to make an Endbringer and made Noelle, it stands to reason those same people made Queen's immunity to Thinker powers."

"You think Queen was made? Nope, no more. We are not going down that avenue of thinking. Move to the next plan." Skitter nodded.

"It was just an idea, an option. Another option is that if we could get Panacea close enough to touch her she might be able to cripple her before she gets absorbed."

"Jeez, do any of your plans involve not sacrificing someone to Noelle?"

"I got something," Tattletale cut in. "I talked to Eraser, a new member of the Wards and got a read on his power. We thought he created controlled annihilation blasts, but I looked at what he did, and that isn't it. He replaces matter, as in reaches from another universe and switches matter from one to the other."

"Where are you going with this?" I asked.

"It's only a theory, but I've been giving a lot of thought to powers in general, and my teammates know I'm pretty good with this stuff. Now, I want you to imagine this. Think about all the complex processing and work that goes into managing powers. Hell, Skitter can individually control every insect in her swarm and simultaneously give each a completely different instruction. My own power, it's similar. Queen's brain power, all the different weapons she can make and the speed at which she makes them… where's that work taking place? Our brains certainly aren't capable of it."

"Passengers." Skitter finished. "She thinks that passengers are massive, incomprehensible beings that pick us and give us our powers." I shook my head. That was a lot to take in, and I still didn't see how that related to Noelle.

"I… I can't even begin to try and understand the implication of that," I admitted. "But what are you planning on using that information for. Can you kick Noelle's passenger in the balls or something?" I wasn't sure why that was the first thing that popped into my mind, but the idea of kicking some sort of otherworldly being in the testicles sounded amazing. Tattletale rolled her eyes at me and said,

"No, I can't do that. But if all our powers pulled from another universe, like Eraser's, then I might be able to do something. If powers like Skitter's and Grue's were pulling from some sort of energy from thousands of universes or just one I think there might be a way to open a portal through those worlds." This was starting to make my head hurt.

"So there are other universes? Like, 'every decision you make creates another universe' kind of thing?" Tattletale shook her head.

"Less like that and more just the fact that there are a lot of them." Suddenly Troll jumped and rolled into the conversation, literally.

"So there is a universe made entirely of millions of me?" Troll asked with a wide grin. Tattletale opened her mouth to protest when PillowMan and Panacea walked up, DeathKid fast asleep on his back.

"Wait, does that mean there is a universe made entirely of my pillows?" PillowMan asked, a confused look passing over his face. Panacea rolled her eye,s but smiled. Tattletale once again moved in to correct him, but then I said,

"And does that mean there is actually an anime universe where all my ships come true?" Tattletale took a breath and then let out a defeated sigh.

"Sadly, that last one is the most likely to be true." She shook her head and straightened up. "Anyway, my point is that if we had another cape, someone who's power drew heavily from another universe and combined it with Eraser's power we could kick the door from the frame between universes. That's why I hired Faultline's crew to come here and-" she was cut off when Noelle exploded from the hole we had put her in, pillows and foam flying in all directions. The moment she was up she let out a massive wave of vomit carrying clones upon clones.

The wave hit me full in the face and knocked both me and Brute down before we even knew what was fully happening. Make back screamed in pain again. I had vomit in my eyes and had to spend a moment trying to clear them. When I looked up again it was utter chaos.

We were trying to take the time and prepare some sort of defensive line. We thought we still had time, but we only had what, ten minutes? People were shouting, scattering back and forth. Alexandria was gone, Queen was gone, Grue was gone, half a dozen other capes I didn't know about. I forced myself to my feet and used my katana to dispatch three clones next to me and looked up at Noelle. She was standing stock still.

"Queen," Tattletale said with a cough as she rose out of the vomit. "She might be doing something to Noelle that's making her stop." Then Noelle vomited again, releasing fifty or so clones. I'm sure everyone was looking at the Alexandria clones and the other important Protectorate capes that got. But I really only looked at the ones with orange hair and large green eyes.

I took a step forward, one hand gripping the hilt of a katana. I suddenly felt someone pulling on my arm and looked behind me. Skitter was gripping my wrist.

"You can't." She coughed. I wrenched my arm from her grasp and looked down on her angrily where she was laying in the vomit. Her leg was broken at an odd angle, something that probably would have crippled her with pain had it not been for Tenant.

"I have to, she has Queen," I answered her. Skitter shook her head.

"You can barely walk, and we're going to have enough problems trying to deal with Alexandria. You go after, you'll get absorbed too and we can't deal with that right now."

"Skitter, I have to," I said seriously.

"Damn it Tsundere, you're not actually in an anime!" Skitter shouted at me. My eyes widened a fraction. Was that what she thought I was doing? Did she think the only reason I wanted to help Queen was because of some stupid anime trope?

"Fuck you, I'll do what I want." I said before turning. But Noelle had other plans and the next thing I saw was her foot coming down on me and Skitter.


	32. A parting of ways

Grace, Wanton, Raymancer, Skitter, Tsundere, Grue, Leet, Circus, Alexandria, PillowMan, Panacea, Miss Militia, and Tattletale. Noelle could feel them under her skin, within her. They were among others, but by far the most important and the most useful ones. However, she felt someone else, someone she hadn't consumed. Something was wrong.

She looked out and realized her clones had stopped, they were all standing completely still. Just staring at her. The other heroes had paused in the fighting, seeing that something was happening. Noelle let out a cry of rage and ordered her clones to attack, to do something. But they didn't, they stood there. Looking at her.

"What is happening?" Noelle cried angrily, but only with her mind. The words never made their way to her lips.

"I'm happening," Tenant interrupted. Noelle whirled and saw the ageing man in an old suit walking up to her, walking on air. Noelle swiped a claw at him, but it passed through harmlessly. Tenant paid it no mind and continued to stride forward, his cane tapping against a tile floor that wasn't there. It only made a noise. Tenant walked a circle around her, looking her up and down for a moment before he turned his back and looked at the heroes waiting for something to happen.

"You see," Tenant began. "I just got my current host. What makes you think I'm going to let you take her away?"

"What? What is going on?" Tenant smiled.

"You know, my power works of this idea that a person's mind can resist me, keep me from gaining too much access they don't want me to have. But funnily enough, you have created clones. Mindless, twisted, blank slates completely incapable of resisting me in any way. And thanks to you, I'm in all of them. Hundreds of soldiers, all of them with a little piece of me in their minds telling them what to do. I am within them, they are with me. Basically-" Suddenly all the clones gathered in a circle around Noelle. They linked hands and held them above their heads, and opened their mouths to speak simultaneously.

"We are Tenant, for we are many and we are one." Noelle took a nervous step backwards before every clone she had created attacked her all at once.

* * *

Tenant moved down through Noelle's body, stopping on Grue and ending the psychological torture he was experiencing. Quite honestly he didn't seem that bothered by it. Tenant did a quick memory check and found his trigger event hadn't been that bad, so it made sense.

"Hello there Brian." Tenant said. He appeared with an armchair inside Grue's mind, a hallucination of sorts.

"What is going on?" He asked. Tenant examined his cane casually and paused for a few moments before answering.

"I am Tenant, the one you're not so fond of." Tenant sensed Grue immediately tensing. "Relax, I'm not doing anything to you. Or at least, not yet. But I need you to listen. In a few moments, I going to get Noelle to vomit you and all the others she had captured out of her, save Skitter and Tsundere. I need you and Tattletale to get all the other heroes to stand down while I do my work. When it is time to kill Noelle, make sure Tattletale opens that portal between worlds as a backup plan. Past that, I'll have the clones weaken Noelle as much as possible then Brute should be able to kill her by punching as hard as he possibly can straight into her core. Do you understand?" Unable to do it physically, Grue shook his head mentally.

"Why are you telling me this? Why not Skitter?" Grue paused for a moment as he suddenly remembered something else Tenant had said. "You're not letting Skitter and Tsundere go." Tenant nodded.

"I am currently in the process of moving my consciousness into Tsundere. When this is all said and done, you'll have you're Skitter back, Tenant free, and I'll walk away through Tsundere's mind. Which is why I need you to get the heroes to back off, it would be very bad if a process like this was interrupted." Grue fell silent as he considered things. Tenant waited for all his thoughts to go through his mind before Grue finally spoke again.

"I'll do it."

"Of course you will," Tenant answered. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have things to do." Tenant floated back up into Noelle's mind and had a brief moment of amusement at her panic as her own clones tore her apart. She was heavily damaged now, barely holding it together. And to it worse he was actively jumbling up the orders her brain sent to her limbs, making things go wrong and irresponsive. But it still wasn't enough to break through the durability and healing factor around her core. But that would be fine, Tenant knew Brute would take care of that.

Tenant snapped his fingers and suddenly Noelle began to vomit again. This time vomiting up so many clones that she lost the capes she had copied. All except Skitter and Tsundere as Tenant had said he would do.

Tenant reappeared in front of Noelle with a smug grin on his face. "You know, you don't have a normal mind either do you?" Noelle growled at him and he chuckled back. "That's funny, because you're letting the beast inside of you control your actions right now, which means I can do this." He snapped his fingers and suddenly he slowed her perception of time down twenty-five thousand times normal speed. And like that, time had stopped for Noelle. Everything completely frozen around her. Tenant couldn't stop an ominous chuckle from escaping his throat.

"Now, every seven hours in this time, Tenant Time if you will, amounts to one second of real time. You'll be stuck here for months before you see anything eventful happening. Shall I double it for you?" Tenant snapped his fingers again and increased her perception of time even further. He felt a satisfying rise of panic in her mind, but also an unhealthy amount of anger towards him. Ah well, he needed more time to move his consciousness over anyway.

* * *

Tenant left Noelle alone with her panic and drifted down towards Skitter. As with everyone within Noelle's body, she was in a semi-conscious state. Which only made it easier for him to slip into her mind's eye. For reasons he would only be able to explain if he consulted her subconscious, she was dreaming she was in a grassy field and staring up at the stars. She was wearing her older Skitter costume before she had modified it so heavily and wasn't wearing the mask. Her subconscious had also altered her face to be slightly more attractive in the dreamscape.

"Hello there." Tenant said with a weak smile. Taylor sat up and looked at him. She frowned.

"What is happening Tenant?" Tenant shrugged.

"A lot is going on. Right now I'm controlling Noelle's clones and using them to attack her directly. She is crippled, weak, and a good strike from Brute will be all it takes to kill her. I have Grue setting that up right now. But there are a few things I need to let you know before I finish up and this can all be over." Taylor nodded and waited for him to continue. Tenant took a breath and said,

"I already gave Tattletale all the details I could find, but Alexandria was working with an organization known as Cauldron, I'm sure you've heard of it. I've looked through her memories and even transplanted a few directly into Tattletale's mind. She should be having a field day out of here right now. So anything she says on that front, trust it." Taylor nodded.

"Also, we had a lot of speculation into why Queen fucks over Thinker powers and precogs. So I peeked in to have a look." He paused and Taylor leaned in. "Nothing." He said.

"What?" Skitter asked in disbelief.

"It has nothing to do with her power, believe me, I checked." Tenant said with a nod. "As far as I could tell, no one had been rooting around or doing anything to her mind that would explain the immunity to Thinkers."

"Then how does she do it?" Tenant shrugged and looked away.

"My best guess? It's because she is insane, that her mind is so far from what a human's mind normally looks like that Thinkers and even some Tinkers can't even begin to comprehend how it works."

"Is there something you could do?" Taylor asked promptly. Tenant shook his head sadly.

"Had it been Bitch that got absorbed I could have rewired her mind back to normal. But Queen is different, her mind isn't just different. It was completely shattered and she had to basically glue the pieces back together herself. If the mind was a sheet of glass, you could imagine Queen's mind as a kaleidoscope made of stained glass. Nothing makes any sense. I wouldn't even know where to begin in trying to put things back together. I would have to separate left brain and right brain functions completely, make two completely different consciousnesses for both functions and have them work together to put the whole brain back together in something that even resembled a human's mind. And even then I would-"

"Tenant," Taylor interrupted. Tenant stopped himself and straightened up.

"You're right, I'm getting off track."

"Why are you telling me this now?" Taylor asked suspiciously. "Why not wait until we're out." Tenant didn't answer. He felt Taylor's mind putting the pieces together until she finally said,

"You're not leaving with me." Tenant nodded.

"I'm making some changes to your body before I go." He said. "I don't do this too often so you might notice some oddities. Your internal clock will change if you don't stick to the schedule we have been keeping. I'm making sure that your body prioritizes muscles over fat, so you should always be pretty strong just from everyday movements, let alone if you work out. All the information and knowledge we have gathered over that last few months will still be with you, but like any normal person it is going to fade from memory if you don't stay up on it. Your minds-"

"Tenant," Taylor said with a sad frown. "I don't know if I can even function normally after this." Tenant sighed and hung his head. "After everything you have given me the ability to do, how could I go back to my normal body?" Tenant shook his head.

"How did you do it before? What did you do when your body was just a normal person's? You are Skitter, the person with the useless power to control bugs and one of the most famous criminal in the world right now. You'll manage. And I didn't make you better, I made you more. I took you mind and sharpened it. It is up to you to keep it sharpened." Tenant studied her for her reaction. But he was already devoting too much effort into Noelle and her clones to untangle the mess of emotions flowing through her mind. Tenant shook his head again.

"Just a few more things then I'll be off. Your minds will collapse without me to manage them. You'll be left with you first and second mind, but those will slowly deteriorate over time so use them frequently if you want to keep them longer. I also spent a lot of time managing your hormones, so your period will be coming back. Also, and I doubt you'll need to use this bit of information, but that also means you'll need to use a condom from now on." Tenant paused for a moment and considered things.

"I think that's it." He said. "Everything else is kind of a toss up as for what will happen. So I'll leave it to you." Tenant turned around when Taylor called after him.

"Where are you going?" Tenant looked up as if his goal was actually above him.

"I have a Noelle to deal with." And began to float up from her consciousness when he heard Taylor saying something.

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Tenant answered, and then he was gone.

* * *

"Noelle." Tenant said, causing her to attempt to snap her head in his direction, before remembering she couldn't move. Tenant floated into her line of sight with a slight grin playing across his lips. "How long has it been for you? Hours? Minutes? Years? Do you even know any long I have had you stuck here like this? Because quite honestly, I don't have to wait here with you. I leave you here, pop out into another's mind for a bit, maybe one of your clones and wait a few minutes, then pop back in and see how you're doing. So, how about it Noelle? How long has it been?" Tenant felt Noelle's mind begin to race, trying to recall details anything that could help her. Tenant willed her mind to let her remember key facts, but made it so she couldn't remember the moments when they happened.

The effect was instant. The panic he had induced not long ago had quelled over however long it was he had left her in this state. An insanity had taken root, but now Tenant revived the panic and feed it and the insanity both. Had she been able to she would have screamed. Tenant nodded to himself and accepted that his job was done vacated her mind once more.

Tenant slipped into Tsundere's mind and started to manipulate things from there. He gave the clones a final order to start rampaging wildly against Noelle's body. Causing them to do just as much damage to themselves as they were doing to Noelle. Then he triggered her vomit reflex and waited for Tsundere to start getting pulled out. The moment her body shifted he lost his connection to the clones and Noelle's mind. For Tenant, it was like losing a limb. For a moment he had the processing power of fifty clones, Tsundere, Skitter, Noelle, and that monstrous mind that was possessing her. And then it was all gone and all he had left was Tsundere's completely average human mind. Tenantsighed for what he hoped would be the last time today.

* * *

Tsundere rolled across the ground a few times before she gathered her senses enough to stand back up. Her back was stiff, but at least it wasn't in pain anymore. She looked around and saw Skitter lying on the ground, her leg still bent at an odd angle. Reflexively, she exerted her power around her and over Skitter. As she did so, she moved to pick her up and support her. Then she heard a voice.

"You are okay, yaes?" She turned and saw Brute standing there, the sleeves of his costume rolled up and half a cigar smoking in his mouth. Behind him, lines of heroes stood almost shoulder to shoulder watching her and Noelle. Grue, Tattletale, and Imp standing among them. At that moment, Tsundere noticed a massive pillar of light shining behind them. Tsundere glanced back at Noelle, her clones still tearing her apart.

"Yeah," she said, "But you all are going to have a lot of explaining to do after this." Brute nodded and took the cigar out of his mouth. He dropped it on the ground and crushed in under his boot.

"Then I have a Noelle to kill." Brute stated in his heavy accent. He stalked forward without any hurry in his pace. Tsundere pulled the unconscious Skitter arm over her shoulder and started to bring her back to the line everyone had formed over the street and rubble.

Brute ignored all the hits he took from the rampaging clones as they attacked Noelle. He casually batted one aside as it got in his way. Noelle was failing wildly, unable to absorb her own clones and taking too much damage from their reckless attack. Brute was practically underneath her when he stopped. He slid his foot back and braced himself against the ground. He looked up and readied his fist. Then he waited.

When he did strike, he only did it once and with everything he had. A ripple effect rolled across Noelle's body for a moment before she exploded completely into a fountain of gore. Specks of blood, little splinters of bone, globlets of meat started raining down on everyone. Tsundere was completely sure that if they hadn't spent their time fighting a monster that had covered half of them in vomit a lot more people would have thrown up at the sight of it.

Brute took a moment to stretch, presumably in reaction to all the strength and regeneration he had just stolen. But it only lasted a second before he lashed out and killed a handful of clones before anyone had a chance to react. A few of them got in on it, like Raymancer who started snipping them out. But that was before Troll jumped into the scene, pulled out a rocket launcher, and started blowing up the remaining clones.

When no one could see anymore and shoved his weapon into his inventory and turn to look at Tsundere. His Lenny face doing all the talking.

When the smoke cleared Brute was clutching the Alexandria clone. He was punching her repeatedly in the face and getting nowhere. Eidolon started to fly forward to help when Brute stopped and just started squeezing her neck with both hands. The Alexandria clone struggled for a few moments, clawing at Brute's hands, before falling limp. Brute dropped her on the ground and wiped some blood off his mouth. It wasn't his.

Everyone watched silently as Brute walked back towards Tsundere. She put Skitter on the ground and stood up straight to meet him. Queen walked up and stood to her right as Troll moved to her left. An armoured car, probably possessed by Reaper, drove over the mounds of rubble and the doors opened. Tsundere clasped Brute on the shoulder before turning and leading her team towards the vehicle. As she turned Tenant entered her view, his hand resting on his cane.

"Hello Riza." Tenant greeted. "I'm the new tenant." Riza grinned widely at him as she walked past.

"Neat."


	33. The metaphor has broken down

Miss Militia and Weld sat down at the conference room table silently and waited. It wasn't long before portal opened up in the room and Doctor Mother came walking in with Contessa right behind her. Miss Militia offered her a curt nod but didn't say anything. Doctor Mother smiled lightly at her and took her seat at the conference table. A minute later at exactly twelve o'clock midnight Accord walked in with two of his superpowered bodyguards right behind him. He was wearing his typical style of dress, tailored suit, ornate walking stick, and his wood and silver mask. He sat down promptly at the table and held out his hand. One of his bodyguards placed a binder in it and he proceeded to open it up in front of him.

Miss Militia glance towards the escorts he brought. One was a woman in a suit just like his. Miss Militia recalled seeing her the last time this meeting was called. The other Ambassador was in a full costume, a white suit and top hat with purple trim. His mask was clearly designed by Accord, made out of some white wood that mimicked the man's facial expression underneath; a knowing smirk.

"I understand there was a little problem in our plan," Accord said as he penned something down in the binder. Miss Militia cleared her throat and began to speak.

"Yes, we followed your suggestion to threaten them with a kill order and it caused them to refuse to ally with us. Because of that, we don't have the information we were hoping to gather on them." Accord nodded.

"This is fine, for now."

"Fine?" Weld asked. "You said the only way that we could be ready to fight the Paranorms is if we could gather the information you required. It was because of your suggestion that we couldn't learn everything we need." Accord held up his hand to him and shook his head.

"I have already accepted that The Paranorms are agents of chaos and won't react as I expect them to. And while it is a shame that they split off, there will be more opportunities in the future. Let us focus on what was learned. Miss Militia?"

"Brute the Brute as well as Genesis are working with them now." She said. Accord frowned and wrote something down in the binder.

"Troubling, and Brute was such a good source of stability too. Tell me, did Skitter die?" Miss Militia shook her head.

"No, from all appearances he left her services voluntarily." Accord's frown deepened and his mask moved to accommodate.

"So Tsundere has corrupted yet another person who previously had rules. I will have to adjust things. Doctor Mother? Any luck with your resources?" It was Contessa who spoke.

"All our Thinkers predictably have some issue with Queen. But we have discovered something of a work around."

"Oh?" Accord asked. "And what would that be?"

"The further removed Queen is from a situation, the less she throws off my power. During the fight with Echidna I was able to clearly see the steps to defeat Tsundere before Queen's mech dropped in. After that things became… cloudy for lack of a better term."

"Hm," Accord said. "Interesting indeed. I will keep this in mind, the sooner we can take out Queen the quicker we will be able to bare down on the rest of The Paranorms." Accord finished writing in conjunction with his last sentence and looked up at everyone. "Is there anything else?"

"Yeah," Weld said. "This team we're putting together, the two of you still haven't told us who you're adding to the team." Accord motioned to the Ambassador standing behind him to his right. The man in the white suit walked forward and nodded.

"This is Card Trick." Accord said. "He is who I picked to be the leader of the Unwrittens." Accord looked at Doctor Mother. "And who was it you picked?" Doctor Mother raised her hands and snapped her fingers. Another portal opened and a cloud of mist rolled out. It coiled and shaped itself until it was in the vague shape of a person. Suddenly all that mist turned into a solid body of water, a woman's form now very clear to everyone.

"Her name is Mistwalker," Doctor Mother told them. "A case fifty-three whose body is made completely of states of water she can control. Number Man will join when the time is right." Mistwalker nodded started freezing her fingertips to show them. "Which leaves you, Miss Militia, Weld."

"Assault and Battery have volunteered for the spot." Miss Militia said. "Everything is set up on our end."

"Only five," Accord said aimlessly. "Six Paranorms, five Unwrittens. It is unbalanced. I will see to correcting this." Accord rose from his seat and promptly closed his binder. He handed it back to the other bodyguard he brought with him and looked at everyone gathered.

"We know from the display Brute made that he is quite capable of killing Alexandria if the chance presents itself. So we know we cannot win with force alone."

"Which is why we wanted to see how they worked against the Echidna." Weld stated. "We would have been able to see how they reacted had you not caused them to leave our alliance to fight her." Accord's eye twitched.

"That will be remedied soon enough," Accord stated. "My intel states that a certain someone has entered the city that will test The Paranorms in ways we never could." Miss Militia stood up, suddenly alarmed.

"Who?" Accord paused.

"What do you know of a Doctor Neil Starblood?" Miss Militia looked at Weld who shook his head.

"Nothing, yet." Accord shook his head and began to walk out the room.

"Disappointing, but not surprising. He had abandoned the name long ago, hardly relevant now. I'm sure you'll know who I'm talking about soon enough." With that Accord walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. Card Trick stayed behind.

Doctor Mother rose from her chair and a portal opened up. She and Contessa stepped through and disappeared, leaving Mistwalker behind as well. Miss Militia and Weld shared a look.

"Come one," Weld said, "Let's get you introduced to Assault and Battery."

Flying. It was the best way Jess could describe it. Her arms were clamped tightly around Brute's neck and her body was hanging down his back as he swam. She took another breath as he went to dive downward again. Her weightlessness in the water lifted her off his back briefly, letting her float. She felt Stravik take her right hand and pull a little. She let go and he twisted under the water to face him.

For a few seconds, she was floating aimlessly. Unable to see as she squeezed her eyes shut to keep the water out, only able to fell and coolness of the ocean pressing in around her from all sides, Stravik's hand being her only tether and reassuring her. It was freeing for a few fleeting moments and her heart was racing with the excitement of it. She suddenly felt the need to breathe again and gave Stravik's hand a squeeze. He pulled her in close and kicked with his legs, sending a wave of force behind him as they skyrocketed towards the surface.

Not for the first time was she surprised at his level of control of his own strength. He took her through the water incredibly fast, but not so fast she would lose her grip. When he had brought her underwater and pulled her hands apart, he did so gently with care. And when rising back to the surface he did so fast, but again not so fast it hurt her in any way.

They breached the surface and Jess opened her mouth wide and drew in a large breath. She felt the salty ocean taste on her lips and quickly wiped her eyes. She could see the skyline of Brockton Bay far in the distance now, they at least a few miles away from the coastline in Brockton Bay's mostly abandoned harbour.

"How vas that?" Stravik asked in his normal heavy accent. Jess took a breath and smiled at him.

"How deep was it?" Stravik shrugged and said,

"Eh, about twenty or thirty feet, yaes." Jess grinned.

"It was great." Stravik smiled and looked up into the sky. It fell silent for a bit and they just floated there silently. Stravik gently released his close hold on her and let her float a good distance away, still maintaining his hold on her hand.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked after a while. Stravik looked away from the sky returned his gaze back to her.

"Things." He said simply. "Stuff."

"Like?" Jess asked, raising an eyebrow. Stravik considered for a moment before saying.

"I was wondering if I would be wrong to do this." Jess's eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" A small smirk appeared on Stravik's lips as he said,

"This." Jess's eyes widened as he pressed his lips to her. It wasn't big, just a quick peck on her lips. When he pulled back he studied Jess's face for her reaction. She honestly couldn't tell what she was feeling, her lips tingled lightly from the sensation and her heart was fluttering lightly. She couldn't really tell what that was. Excitement? Hopefulness? Nervousness? Was he going to do it again? Did she want him to?

"Are you ready to go back to shore now?" Stravik asked her. Jess blinked and realized she had been staring. A little bit of colour rose to her cheeks and she nodded weakly saying yes as well. Stravik nodded and shifted her back onto his back. She locked her arms together back around his neck and held on tight. For a moment it felt odd as the warmth of his bare back bleed through her one piece swimsuit and warmed her skin as it had become chill in the water. And then Stravik took off, swimming for the shore using only his feet and travelling at a brisk pace that sprayed water into the air behind them.

It struck her had this been anyone else, they couldn't have been doing this. Secret identities and all. But Stravik, and really none of The Paranorms, had any use for secret identities. Riza didn't care, Troll could change his face if need be, Queen's face was already well known by everyone, Alex was legally dead, and Stravik hadn't stopped being Brute for so long he apparently had forgotten his past name. That or he simply didn't want to think about the time he was tortured into triggering.

Jess felt conflicted when she thought of Stravik. She liked him, as much as anyone really, but she didn't know if it was for the right reasons. It had been so long so anyone had shown interest in her, and that was before she was pulled into this world. It had also been a long time since she had time to rest. She had been running with Krouse for so long, she couldn't even remember the last time she got to have fun completely relaxed like this. And Stravik gave her the chance to do things she had never gotten to do before; swimming, dancing, roller skating, anything fun that needed legs, Stravik found a way to let her do it. Now she couldn't tell if she was dating him because of that or if she actually liked him.

The portal Tattletale opened up, there was a moment when she had it open to Earth Aleph, her world. Ballistic had shown up for the fight by then and took his chance to go back immediately. She wished Sundancer hadn't run off, it would have been great to see her get to go home. But when she was asked, when she was told she could go back, she couldn't answer. She remembered the form she had made freezing up and being unable to move. Then she felt Brute placing a hand on the form. He told her he would come get her, bring her back if she wanted, even go with into Earth Aleph if she asked. He'd do it too, she knew. No questions asked, it was just the kind of guy Stravik was.

They landed on the beach and Stravik gently placed her in her chair. He draped a towel across her shoulder and even offered her his heavy coat he wore with his costume. She declined and he started rolling her towards the pickup truck they had come in.

Suddenly a van drove up out of nowhere and ground to a halt on the road just thirty feet from where they were on the sand. A man with black hair slicked back and a partially unbuttoned dress shirt leapt out of the driver's seat. He had a large timepiece dangling from his neck on a golden chain. A large grin was plastered on his face and it seemed to grow larger as he walked up to them. Stravik stopped pushing Jess's chair and stood in front of her, confronting the man before he got too close.

"You two wouldn't happen to be Brute and Genesis would you?" The man asked, his head tilting slightly.

"And vhat if we are?" Stravik asked evenly. The man's smile widened even more and his eyes lit up.

"Oh nothing, I just need your help with a demonstration." The man held out a closed fist and opened it so Stravik could see what he had in his open palm. Stravik cried out as some green gas assault his eyes and face. A second later he crumbled to the ground.

The man giggled and stepped over his body, making his way towards Jess. She panicked and froze in her chair, unable to do anything. The men violently grabbed the edges of her chair and got uncomfortably close to her face. His eyes were pale and his breath smelled like fish.

"You, me, your boyfriend, and a few choice other people are going to have a little fun, Jess." The man said, hold up his palm to her face. She got a chance to see a small device in his palm just before a green smoke hit her and everything went dark.

"So, twenty-thousand bullets and shells each for these thirty-two handguns, twenty machine guns, fifty-seven assault rifles, twelve sniper rifles, and thirteen shotguns. Then five hundred rockets for your rocket launchers, a five thousand rounds for your grenade launchers, a few hundred assorted explosives, a couple dozen of my armour piercing blades on daggers? Is that all?" Queen asked. Troll nodded with a smirk.

"If you can Queen, saves me a trip to Texas to restock." Queen shrugged.

"Sure, I'll have it all by the end of the week." Troll shook his head in disbelief.

"Jeez Queen! How? How do you still have the ability to mass produce things like that? All your ships were destroyed by Noelle." Queen shrugged.

"Still got U-boats." Troll shook his head and sighed with a little laugh.

"You are one crazy little girl you know?" Queen grinned wildly and giggled. Troll rolled his eyes and ruffled her hair. Then a realization occurred to him.

"Wait, if you have submarines then why are we staying here?" Queen's attitude suddenly did a one-eighty and she blushed a little and became sheepish.

"Well, Tsundere liked this place so…" Troll's grinned widened and he began to chuckle.

"So, you still have a thing for her? Hoping to get in on a little bit of that kinky anime action?" Queen blushed a little harder.

"I-It's not a crush!"

"Oh of course not!" Troll said sarcastically. "I only caught you spying on her in the shower, that certainly-"

"Shut up!" Queen said quickly, pulling out sonic hand cannon from her combat skirt and pointing it at Troll. Troll fell into a fit hysterical giggling. After a few moments, he regained his breath and let go a few more chuckles before continuing.

"Anyway, you thinking of making a move anytime soon?" Troll waggled his eyebrows at her, causing her face to become even redder. Troll was secretly aiming for her to glow red enough to match a lightbulb. Who knows, maybe all the residual anime Riza left all over the place would make it happen.

"No." Queen squeaked.

"You know, Riza is just in the next room." Troll said slowly. "I could go talk to her if you want."

"No!" Queen then shrunk back into herself and looked shy again. "I don't know if she's interested." Troll rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on! She held hands with you all the way out of the Protectorate, she pulled you in protectively when the mech crashed, and not to mention how many times she has defended you when other people wanted to take you out or something. What else do you need? A runway with flashing lights leading to her bed?" Troll paused a moment. "Wait, I might use that later. You know where I could get some runway lights?"

"I'm serious Troll," Queen stated. Once again, her tone and posture flipped and now she acted like she was dangerously close to using the hand cannon she had pointed at him a minute ago. Troll sighed and slumped over.

"So let me get this straight, you like Riza?"

"Yes," Queen said with a nod.

"And you don't want her to know about it?"

"I would probably die if you told her, yes." Troll paused and suddenly grinned again.

"Is that so? Well, I wouldn't want to do that or anything… TSUNDERE! QUEEN HAS A RAGING BONE-"

 **Queen shot Troll's brains out.**

"You better have not got anything on the carpet." Riza called from the next room over.

"I didn't!" Queen answered with a chirp. She tossed the hand cannon on to Troll's body as it dissolved in light. Queen then skipped out of the room as cheerful as could be as Troll watched in his limbo form as he waited to respawn. No one really knew about that aspect of his power, that he had a few seconds to look at his body before he respawned.

The words 'you died' scrolled across his vision before his sight went black and he felt his body reform around him. When his sight came back he was standing outside the building they had holed up in. It was The Undersider's old loft, it was a pretty neat place. Riza liked the way it was suspended above an abandoned factory or something like that.

Troll turned away and swiped his hand through the air. A blue menu appeared out of nowhere displaying a number of options for him to select. He tapped on a bar labelled 'Character Options'. A character customization menu opened up for him and he did a quick look over. At the top there was an area labelled, ' **Title:** Troll (unmasked)'. Troll glanced down at his statistics.

 **Name:** Troll

 **Deaths:** 287,932

 **Kills:** 14

 **Inventory items:** 3,355,061

 **Money:** 732$ 1,022€ 5,000¥ 0Mex$

"Hm," Troll said. "Getting a little low on cash." Troll clicked on the title section and began looking through them.

 **John Smith (Bystander)**

 **John Smith (Boston Mob)**

 **John Smith (Alcoholic father)**

 **John Smith (Lawyer)**

 **John Smith (International Investor)**

 **John Smith (New York Mob)**

 **Jane Smith (Race Track Owner)**

 **Jane Smith (Hooker)**

 **Jane Smith (Assassin)**

 **Troll (Masked)**

 **Troll (Unmasked) equipped**

 **John Smith (Politician)**

 **Jane Smith (Skitter)**

 **John Smith (Don't ask)**

 **37 more.**

Troll slowly scrolled through them and found labelled 'Bank Guy' and equipped it. Instantly he was in full tux and had a briefcase in one hand. He reached up and found a fedora on his head. He straightened it and his bowtie and started forward.

He found himself at the bank a little while later and set his briefcase down on the teller's station.

"I would like to withdraw of five thousand dollars. You'll find the account number inside the briefcase." Troll reached around and opened it up for her. The teller nodded politely to him.

"I'll get that right away for you sir." She took the case and disappear into the back room. The moment he was gone he whipped out his phone and scrolled through the contacts. He found the one labelled 'Brockton Bay Romance Services' and dialled it up.

" _Hello, welcome to your local Romance Services branch. How may I help you today?"_

"Yes," Troll answered, "I would like to order your number two package."

" _Would you like that in triple X, single X, or PG?"_

"PG please," Troll requested calmly.

" _Alright, sir, where would you like this delivered?"_

"Have prepared for pickup and payment at your office in ten minutes, I'll swing by."

" _Alright sir, have a nice day."_ Troll nodded and hung up the phone, a light smile playing across his lips. The teller came back and set his briefcase down in front of him and gave him a warm smile.

"There you are sir, is there anything else I could get for you?"

"Nope, all good." Troll took the heavy suitcase and began walking outside. The moment he was out the door he slid the case into his inventory and all the money was added to his power's accounting aspect. He gave a happy little sigh and walked down the streets towards the Romance Services office where he picked up his package.

He took a taxi across the city and found his way to Skitters lair. He walked through the front door with a large box of chocolates in one hand and a bundle of tulips in the other. He passed one of Skitter's people on the way in, a girl with red hair tied into dreadlocks. Troll winked at her once, causing her to pause for a moment.

"I'm here to see your boss." He said. The girl shook clear of thoughts her head before saying,

"She is on the top floor." Troll smirked and started climbing the stairs.

Taylor leapt to her feet as Troll opened the door to her room. Troll raised an eyebrow at her and shut the door behind him. She sighed and slumped back into her chair.

"It's just you." She mumbled.

"Just me?" Troll said. "I make entire cities tremble when I come to town, but when I come into your room it's 'just me'?" Skitter shrugged.

"To be honest, you're a lot less intimidating when you've been on our side for a month." Troll did a dramatic gasp and placed a hand on his chest.

"Ah, you wound me! Here I thought I was the thing of nightmares!" Troll stopped and returned to a normal stance, a smirk on his face. "Here, I brought you chocolate and flowers." Taylor glanced at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" Troll offered her a grin.

"Because I'm unoriginal and I'm hitting on you." He could tell she was resisting the urge to roll her eyes, people tended to do that a lot around him. He set the chocolates on the nightstand and threw the bundle of flower over the book she was reading. He paused and looked around the room. She had her bed off in the corner, unassuming and kind of just there for when she needed it. Her massive black bookshelves dominated the room with their presence. They were completely full of books, almost all of them looked pretty boring to Troll. He noted that there were several holes where books were missing. Another quick bout the room showed them to be piled around Taylor's chair.

"So…" Troll said slowly. "On edge much?"

"Hm?" Taylor said without looking up from her book.

"Oh you know, you jumped when I came into the room. Just wondering." Taylor sighed and turned the page in her book.

"Just trying to stay on top of things…" She trailed off. Troll looked around and faced her.

"So… Not going to say anything? Not going to tell me about the book you're reading?"

"Why are you here Troll?" Taylor asked with a huff. Troll smiled.

"Like I said, I'm hitting on you."

"You hit on everyone." Trolled smiled faltered for an instant, just a moment.

"Of course I do." He said before turning towards the door. "I guess I'll go then. If you're of in the need of some companionship of the male kind, give me a call." Taylor didn't answer causing Troll to sigh as he walked out the door. The same girl from before gave him a strange look as he walked by. He smiled and gave her another wink, just for the fun of it, before stepping out the door.

There was a man there waiting for him, slicked back hair and a timepiece dangling from the golden chain around his neck. The man smiled unnaturally wide at him.

"Hello there, care for a cut scene?" Troll raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, video game references are mine to-" He was cut off as the man injected him with something straight into his neck. Troll crumpled to the ground and the last thing he saw was the man leaning over him saying,

"Nighty night."

 _Laser on turrets and cannons on mechs_

 _Bright shiny bombs all full of tech_

 _Sonic artillery mounted on planes_

 _These are a few of my favourite things_

 _Heat seeking missiles and railguns galore_

 _Anti tank rifles and guns so much more_

 _High explosive rounds have a wondrous ring_

 _These are a few of my favourite things_

 _Long battleships and polarity cannons_

 _Sleek new machine guns with no one to man them_

 _Pancakes for breakfast and my foes for lunch_

 _My AP rounds pack a hell of a punch!_

 _Glowing red swords and bright laser weapons_

 _Plasma hammers if I feel threatened_

 _Fleets of tanks all fueled up for me_

 _Swarms of ships ready for sea_

 _A better air force there could not be_

 _Here I come, wait till you see!_

 _Geared up for war as my siege engines sing_

 _Knock on your door, ring a ding ding._

 _These are a few of my favourite things!_

Queen skipped into the next room. She was happy. Or was she? There was something else. But she was also happy. Could she be two things at once? Queen didn't know. She knew she was happy, and people who sing songs are happy. Happy singing people skipped and smiled. She could do happy, that's what happy people do. But she was nervous too. Nervous people didn't skip, they didn't hum. They were jittery, on edge. How could people do two emotions at once? People are weird. Not Tsu though, Tsu made sense. Or was it Riza? Were they the same person? Oh, yeah. They were. Queen rolled her eyes at her own silliness.

Suddenly the image of a tank popped into her head. It had four barrels that would shoot supercharged particles that would strike with a lot of force. But it was really neat as it would leave behind similarly charged air in its wake, that would electrocute the next meat bag, no person or animal, who entered it. Queen saw everything she would need, every step she would need to construct it in front of her and wrote it down. Or did she? She couldn't remember. She knew it was written down, but she didn't know if it was on a real notepad or the one in her head. She guessed it was the one in her head, she never wrote things down.

She skipped into the room where Riza was curled up on the sofa. She was wrapped in a heavy blanket and was drinking a cup of hot chocolate. Queen liked chocolate. It reminded her of gun powder. She didn't know why, it just did.

Riza was hurt, by her mech. That made Queen sad, she made a face. Riza glanced over and saw Queen standing there. She flashed a grin and Queen's heart fluttered in her chest.

"Come sit down, wanna watch a movie?" Queen blinked. Movies. That's what people do when they're dating right? But she wasn't dating anyone when she watched a movie last. Queen watched a lot of movies when she wasn't doing things.

She sat down next to Riza, very aware how close her feet were. The idea popped in her head that she could lean over and lay on top of Riza. She could cuddle up to her, Queen wanted that. Queen always dreamed about having someone to cuddle. Someone who liked pancakes.

But would that hurt Riza? Her back was injured, said it hurt to move. Sometime's Queen's back hurt after a long day of programming her weapons computers. Was it the same? Queen didn't know, she made a point of not getting hurt too much, because no one would help her if she was hurt. But Riza would help her, Riza always helped.

Queen suddenly realized why she was nervous, because she didn't feel nervous sitting next to Riza. All of her battleships had been destroyed, and it was dangerous to travel without ships. Sure she still had her U-boats and Scourges and a few armoured vehicles around the city. But ships were the best, they carried all her plans and mechs and Vulcans and tanks and U-boats and Higgins boats and a bunch of other things. And Queen wasn't stupid, she knew the shiny capes didn't attack her because she had big ships. But now she had Riza, and Riza would make everything okay. Queen wondered if that was why the sofa felt so safe.

Suddenly the door busted open and a man walked in, a timepiece dangling from his neck. Riza leapt to her feet immediately, but Queen noticed she winced as she did so. Queen looked at the man. His timepiece was golden. She liked it, maybe she would make a mech with time-based things. But the pressurized time cannon wasn't showing any signs of working just yet. Oh well, she would figure that out later.

"Who are you?" Riza asked dangerously. That was her upset voice. Queen pulled out another hand cannon.

"Me? Oh, I'm someone very dangerous." The man smiled. "But for the moment, let's focus on you. I want to know what makes you tick." There was a flash of green light and Queen's vision went dark.


	34. Hickory Dickory Dock

When I woke up I found myself hanging off the ground, thick rubber restraints holding me back. The room was dark and wet, I couldn't make out many details besides the fact the ground beneath me was solid concrete. I looked around and saw Queen restrained the same way. Her eyes were opened wide and she stared forwards blankly, the same expression she wore when I pulled her out of Bonesaw's impromptu operation table. I looked around more and realized all of us were here, arranged in a semi-circle. Reaper was in some sort of cage made of chicken wire, with an electrical current hooked up to it from a generator too far away for him to posses. Troll was laying flat on a table, his arms and legs strapped down in five different places and thick leather mittens over his hands. Genesis tied to a chair next to Brute, both of them had masks placed on their faces that had a hose feeding them knock out gas. Too dangerous to be kept conscious I guess.

I heard giggling and I looked up to see the man that had kidnapped us standing calmly. His hands held behind his back.

"Welcome, welcome!" He said cheerfully. "I'm so glad you could join us Tsundere! It isn't every day I get to unmask a whole team of supervillains that don't have identities to hide! It's all very exciting, you truly are abnormal aren't you. Or perhaps, paranomral?" The man clapped his hands together.

"Who are you?" I asked, making a constant effort to keep my voice flat and emotionless. I was feeling a lot of things because of this, not all of them flattering. But I let anger take the forefront in this case. The man giggled.

"You don't know? Why, I'm Tick Tock. Here to learn what makes you tick." The man clapped his hands together and grabbed the timepiece around his neck. "Oh, would you look at that. It's twelve o'clock! My favourite time of day. Just in time too." Tick Tock sauntered to the other side of the room and grabbed a handheld video camera. He grabbed a remote as well and pressed a button. Suddenly, a tv that had been hidden in the darkness flared to life. Tick Tock's face and the dark background of the room behind him took over the screen.

"Heeeeeeeello people of Brockton Bay!" Tick Tock declared dramatically into the camera. "I'm sure by now you have discovered my little gift to you, twelve people crucified upside down and equally spaced all around the city. You know, like a clock!" Tick Tock threw his head back and started to laugh like a madman. He wiped a tear from his eye as his laughter slowly died away.

"But don't worry," he continued. "They won't die, I'd never let that happen. They'll just be scarred and maimed for the rest of their lives. Consider this a warning Brockton Bay, the only warning you're going to get. Tick Tock is in town, and I'm coming for you." His grin widened even further. "So here is what is going to happen; I am going to ruin the lives of twelve capes in this city. Four I will purely mentally scar, four I will do my best to only physically scar, and four I will do both. If you don't believe me, I have something to show you~!" He turned the camera towards us, showing us full on the screen. God, we looked pathetic.

"The Paranorms." He declared. "The most dangerous, most unstable group of villains that have been plaguing this city. A group I single-handedly captured and rendered helpless where your own Protectorate failed." He turned the camera back towards himself. "But do not fret, the game won't start yet! It simply won't do for them to lose before they even know they're playing. That's why I'm telling you after all. It is just so much better when you struggle. And with that, I'll be seeing you capes of Brockton Bay!" He switched off the camera and the tv screen went dark and we were plunged into blackness.

It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust, but when they did Tick Tock was standing right in front of my, a curved blade in his hand, his silly grin on his face. He began to pace over towards Reaper.

"Where to begin, where to begin." He mused. He touched of his blade to Reaper's cage and a bright spark flashed into existence briefly. Tick Tock whistled and spun on his heels. "The fallen star?" He asked pointing at Reaper with the knife. "The failure?" He asked as he walked passed Troll. "Perhaps the one who lost it all and the recently deceased." He said to me. My eyes widened a fraction as I realized what he meant. My trigger event and Tenant's. He knew about my trigger event and could tell Tenant was hosted in my mind. But that was impossible, no one could know that unless they could actually get inside my mind.

"Or maybe the mental vacation" Tick Tock paused on Queen as he said it. "Oh, I like that." He moved on, Brute and Genesis next. "The tortured and the liar." Tick Tock mused. He shook his head. "Nah, but maybe later." Tick Tock skipped back over to Queen and grinned. He traced the edge of her cheek with the knife blade and chuckled.

"Yes, I'll start with you. There is something just so incredibly interesting about a person whose mind thinks it is better to retreat into complete insanity rather than face harmful reality." He stated.

"What are you talking about?" I asked loudly. Tick Tock looked confused a moment then he suddenly smiled.

"Oh yes, I nearly forgot." He smacked himself upside the forehead and rolled his eyes. "My power, the thing that's let me do what I do what I do. The thing is going to let me ruin the lives of twelve capes so perfectly. I know your trigger events." Tick Tock waggled a finger at her. "I see it all, the events leading up to the trigger and the immediate aftermath. How it affected you. For instance," Tick Tock slid closer to Queen and placed two hands on her face, tilting her blank gaze up to meet his. "I know that Queen experienced something so terrible that her mind retreated into insanity, and the insanity itself was so much stress on her mind that she triggered immediately after. So fun." Tick Tock removed his hands from Queen's face and turned towards me.

"Well, I've made my decision. I guess I'll be seeing you all soon." Tick Tock walked over and removed the mask from Brute's face, dropping into to the floor and shutting off the machine. Without another word, Tick Tock walked out the door without a care in the world. Disappearing and dropping us in silence.

"Come on Applejack." Troll said impatiently. "Any time you want to wake up and get us out of this. It would be appreciated." Brute stirred slightly. Then a little bit more. He raised a hand to his face and wiped his eyes with a yawn.

"I told you not to call me Applejack." Brute mumbled as he casually broke free of the meager restraints placed on him. Troll smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, get us out of this already." Brute yawn again and looked around. A confused looked passed over his face.

"Vhat happen? This is no good place, yaes?"

"Well, it certainly hasn't done so great on first impressions." Troll said dryly while rolling his eyes.

"Brute," I called, getting his attention. "Get us out of this." Brute grunted his response and walked over to me. He lightly pulled on the rubber restraints that suspended me in the and they snapped in his grip. Immediately I fell face first onto the floor below, and it didn't feel the good on my already hurt back either. My legs were still tied up, forcing me to stay on the ground until Brute broke those too.

I scrambled to my feet and started pulling on Queen's restraints. "Go free the others," I ordered Brute. He nodded and walked over to Genesis first. I focus my attention on Queen's binds. They weren't complicated. Made to be easily undone from anyone who wasn't tied up, but they way they held someone suspended in the air made them unable to be freed without some part of them falling uncomfortably to the ground before getting all the way out.

I undid Queen's top restraints first and caught her body on my shoulders so she didn't hit the ground like me. With some difficulty, I released her legs as well and she slumped into my arms. I was a little unbalanced and we both fell over.

"Queen! Queen are you are right?" I asked her as I laid her on her back. She stared blankly at the ceiling, completely unresponsive. I was panicking now. I didn't know what to do, how to help her. I had to help her.

"Queen, did he do something to you? Did he hurt you? I'll kill him." I saw her blink once, then her eyes moved to me.

"Tsu…" She managed. When she couldn't say anything else I frowned. This wasn't good. Tick Tock had gotten all of us. He knew where to find us, how to restrain us, and know he knows how best to torture us because his power gives him a little window into the worst moments of our lives. But worst of all, he hurt Queen. Before even going through on whatever torture he has planned, he hurt Queen. And I wasn't going to let that pass.

"Let's get you out of here," I told her gently. I stood back up, pulling her up with me. She wouldn't stand on her own so I moved her onto my back and grabbed under her legs to keep her steady. Lucky she was small.

"I could do that for you," Brute told me. I turned around and found the rest of them freed and ready to go. Genesis was hanging on to Brute's arm tightly, masking the fact she couldn't walk by making the hold seem casual or affectionate. Troll's smile was gone, and in its place was a blank frown. No emotion in it, just a frown. Still vastly different than what I was used to.

Reaper had a matching frown, only his was angry. I didn't know what he was thinking, but I could guess it wasn't good.

"No, it has to be me," I said. I pushed past him and made my way for the door I saw Tick Tock leave through.

"Vhy though?" Brute asked, clearly confused. I took a breath and answered.

"So she knows that I'm here for her." I opened and the door and immediately something sprang at me. I jumped back and let out a tiny yelp before a realized what it was. A Japanese demon mask, rigid to spring into my face when I opened the door. On it was a note that said,

'I wouldn't let your guard down so quickly. Teehee. -Tick Tock." Brute took a few steps forward.

"Then I vill go first, yaes." I put my arm in front of him to stop him.

"That's most logical choice," I said. "Tick Tock will anticipate it. Reaper, go ghost and scout ahead. We'll catch up outside." Reaper nodded and signalled at me with his hands.

"On it." He turned and floated through the wall. Behind him, Tenant was standing calmly. His hands resting on his cane.

"Do you even know where you're going to go?" He asked me.

'I'm working on a few things.' I responded. Tenant nodded and followed me as we started walking out the door.

"None of them good, this Tick Tock new where to find you while you were at The Undersiders' old place. You didn't even tell them you were using it. None of the places you are planning on going to are safe." I grunted as I shifted Queen's weight on my back.

'Then will just have to go somewhere unsafe.' Tenant paused as he read my mind and realized what I had planned.

"That just might work." I nodded and kept moving. Suddenly I felt Queen shift on my back slightly.

"Riza…" She mumbled.

"It's going to be okay," I told her, hoping I sounded more reassuring than I thought I sounded. Queen's arms tightened in a hug around my neck and she buried her face in my shoulder. She let out a soft groan that was muffled by my shirt and didn't say anything else the rest of the way there.

When James opened the door it was hard to tell exactly what he was thinking when he saw the seven of us, or six considering I was the only one who could see Tenant, waiting outside the door.

"Hey," I offered lamely. His eye glanced at Queen still on my back.

"Amy!" he called back into the apartment. "Some friends of mine are here to see me." He opened the door for us and I nodded to him appreciatively. "Set her on the couch," he told me.

I brought her over to the sofa he guided me to and saw Anna sitting on one end, staring blankly at the TV. James got her to move to a cushy recliner chair angled at the TV just next to it and I laid Queen down. She grabbed my hand before I could pull away. I readjusted her so I sat on the couch with her, her head resting on my lap.

At that moment Panacea, or Amy rather seeing how she wasn't in costume, came into the room. She froze briefly when she saw us.

"What are you doing here?"

"Did you see the broadcast Tick Tock sent out." Amy immediately softened and said,

"Oh." I nodded glumly and turned back to Queen. She had closed her eyes, almost as if she was going to sleep. I lightly brushed some hair out of her face. I never could quite forget just how cute Queen looked, not as cute as Anna because I'm pretty sure that would be impossible, but Queen's face seemed like it never grew out of its childlike features. I could tell she was about my age, but I felt like I could see what she looked like when she was six too. She just had that kind of complexion.

"What happened? Uh, if that's okay." James asked awkwardly. I didn't look up from Queen.

"Nothing, besides what you saw," I responded. "He gave us a warning, like he gave the rest of the city, that he was coming. That and he told us his power." Amy and James looked at each other.

"What is it?" Amy asked. It was Troll the answered her.

"He sees people's trigger events and the circumstances around them." Silence fell over the conversation for what felt like hours. Suddenly, James' little sister spoke.

"This is bad brother." James got up from his seat and kneeled down next to her.

"What is it Anna?"

"Death chances are low, unnaturally low. Very bad, accept for his." She pointed a finger at Troll. "There a five out of six chance he dies in the next twenty seconds. I'm so sorry." Troll looked at her, tilted his head and said,

"I'm sorry too."

 **Troll shot himself.**

Anna's eyes widened immensely as Troll's body fell to the ground and began to dissolve into shards of light. She opened her mouth like she was going to scream when James put his hand on her shoulders.

"It's fine, it's fine." He soothed. "It's Troll's power, he'll be back in a few minutes." Anna hung her head and didn't respond. I looked up at Brute and told him,

"Go beat his ass for that." Brute cracked his knuckles.

"With pleasure, yaes." With that, Brute walked out the door. As he closed the door behind him there was the sound of a phone vibrating in someone's pocket. Amy pulled hers out and checked it.

"New Wave is having a meeting to discuss Tick Tock and make a few plans. You want to come along?" I looked at Amy for a moment. She was different from when I last saw her, back during the Slaughterhouse Nine fiasco. Her hair was longer. But more than that, she seemed much more relaxed.

"Nah, we are not exactly liked very much," I said. Amy nodded and looked at James.

"Then can you…"

"I got it," James answered. Amy nodded.

"Then I'll just go get my costume on and I'll head out." Amy left the room and left us in awkward silence for a minute.

 **Troll bled to death.**

"So… How did you and Amy come by this apartment?" I asked idly. James shrugged.

"I started selling my pillows online and I convinced Amy to take some payment for her work at the hospital. We get by."

"I mean, how come you and Amy are sharing the apartment?" James made a face I couldn't quite read.

"When Amy came back to New Wave, it came out what she did to Glory Girl. While they wouldn't kick her out of the organization, they weren't exactly accepting of her either. Amy invited me to New Wave while you guys were fighting the Nine and I accepted. Not really cut out for villain work and all. But there was some hard feelings and suspicion of the brief time I ran with you guys. Amy's adoptive mother got me a deal with Protectorate, which is nice, but I think she did it more as a favour to Amy than anything. I wasn't exactly liked in New Wave either, so Amy and I decided we would stay together, here." I smiled at him.

"And anything going on in that romance department with that?" James suddenly looked a little uncomfortable. Anna however suddenly looked much more interested in the conversation.

"Brother and Miss Amy went to dinner twice this week. Brother never went out when it was just us." I grinned and messed up Anna's hair. Yep, still the most adorable little girl I have ever seen.

"That's odd," Genesis cut in, saying something for the first time since arriving here. "After what happen with Glory Girl I thought that Amy was into more…" Genesis trailed off as she realized what she was saying a blushed at little. James sighed a little.

"Its... She's been adjusting." I grinned, widely. After a few moments of staring, James asked,

"What?" I shook my head.

"Look at you! Leading a normal life. Using your power to give people the neck comfort they deserve to help support your little sis and your prospective girlfriend. You're a real stand-up guy." James chuckled and shook his head at me.

"You say that like your not going to have a normal life eventually."

"PillowMan, we're the Paranorms! Not normal isn't just in the title, it is the title!" Panacea swept through the room and gave a little wave goodbye as she opened up the door and Brute pushed past her, dragging a smug looking Troll behind him. Panacea glanced nervously up at us and I gave a little wave.

"Behave." Panacea commanded sternly before turning around and closing the door. After a few moments, I said,

"So… want to watch some TV. I know a few good animes…"

When Queen woke up later that night she found us all watching a movie in a dark room, with me munching on popcorn over her head. She shifted and sat up before rubbing her eyes and looking around.

"Hey sleepy." I said teasingly. Queen looked perplexed for a moment then smiled.

"Can I have some popcorn?" I rolled my eyes and held the bag out to her. She scooted closer, leaning against my body as she made herself comfortable before taking the bag and grabbing a handful. She placed it half on my lap and on half on her's as we watched the rest of the movie. She fell asleep again at some point, this time on my shoulder. I got James to summon me up some pillows to make myself comfortable, and then I fell asleep too.


	35. The capes go up the clock

The moment my eyes shut I was asleep and I was dreaming Tenant was standing before on a white infinite landscape. Or, I guess I wasn't dreaming as this was real, but it was the best way I could describe it. Maybe vision was more appropriate? Getting caught in my mindscape? Something like that.

"The Room would be fine," Tenant said as he reading my thoughts. I nodded and looked around at The Room.

"Not much here is there?" In response Tenant snapped his fingers and four walls, a floor and ceiling closed in around us and formed a room. I recognized it immediately. It's light blue walls and the stain on the carpet from when I dropped a soda can on it. The four poster bed with red sheets and the old, ragged, penguin stuffed animal sitting up against the pillows.

"My room," I said, a little stunned.

"You don't like it." Tenant said.

"No, it's fine," I said a little lamely. Tenant frowned.

"You're lying." He raised his hand and snapped his fingers again. The room around us spun and suddenly we were standing on top of a skyscraper looking over Brockton Bay. The cities lights glowed like a million orbs on a sea of darkness from the nighttime sky.

"The tallest tower in Brockton Bay," Tenant said. "Your parents took you hear when you were two."

"I don't remember."

"I do." I turned and looked at Tenant. He was sitting in a recliner now, a glass of wine in his right hand. He took a sip and looked at me seriously.

"I thought we could take this time to lay some groundwork as to how we'll operate." He told me. I shrugged and imagined a sofa behind me before sitting down on it. Tenant's eyes widened in surprise. I grinned at him.

"We are in my mind after all."

"So we are." Tenant paused and considered things. "My power, to inhabit people's minds and alter their mental functions, it can be resisted. People who don't like me personally or take some offense to the idea that I manipulate their minds limit what I can do with their brains. And I don't pretend to be a likeable person. But not you, you honestly don't care one way or another about me or what I do to your mind. Complete acceptance. Then gives me the rare opportunity to go all out, to push my power and your mind to limits I have never gone to before. It will be an experience.

"But that means we are going to have to start changing somethings up in here. Starting with this." Tenant waved his hand and suddenly a computer image of a mind appeared on a holographic screen in front of him.

"My mind?" I asked.

"Who else's? I'm going to be giving myself this interface based on computers interfaces so it is easier to understand and manipulate your mind."

"Okay," I said. I was already bored. Tenant rolled his eyes at me.

"First, I'm going to take over your involuntary functions and rewrite all that mind space of yours." Tenant touched a part of my mind on his screen and an option's list appeared. He touched something and that part of my mind change in colour to be highlighted in yellow.

"Next, I'm going to increase the efficiency of your mind so you need less to perform the same functions. Letting me grow you two more minds within your brain." He tapped on other parts of my mind and started changing them up. Things getting highlighted in different colours as he did so. I got the feeling I was going to wake up with a very different mindset.

"I'm not going to have to read five thousand books am I?" I complained.

"That was Skitter's choice, you can do whatever you want." Tenant said, fiddling with one more thing before glancing at me. "I'm also changing your hormones so you'll be off your cycle. No mood swings, no bleeding, no cravings, and this goes for anything that would upset your balance. Not just your cycle." I found myself grinning at him.

"Where have you been all my life?" He ignored me.

"You won't feel any pain unless it ridiculously far above the normal injury. With your power I won't have to constrict your veins to stop bleeding, but I will direct blood and resources to make your wounds heal slightly faster. Your body will no longer gain fat, it will all go straight into muscle."

"That won't affect my boobs right?" Tenant looked at me flatly.

"I'm going to regret this aren't I?" I shrugged.

"Just asking, these things are important and all." Tenant rubbed his forehead with a hand.

"No, they won't. And I think that will be everything we need to cover for now. Everything else will have to wait until you wake up for us to practice."

"Alright," I said, looking up into space. I realized there weren't any stars, I guess I never looked up when I was two.

"Is there anything you want to ask me?" Tenant asked.

"You don't know?" I asked. Tenant shrugged.

"You don't practice thinking before you speak, you just sort of… do." I chuckled a little and went back to looking at the pitch black sky above us.

"When I was fourteen, we took a trip to Britain as a family," I said. "Could you show me that as I sleep?" Tenant's expression didn't change as he looked at me critically.

"I suppose I could do that." Tenant reached up and snapped his fingers. The rest of the world faded around me and I suddenly found myself getting off a plane with my parents around me. It felt as real as it did the first time, and I smiled.

I woke up to someone shaking me. I wiped the sleep from my eyes and looked up to see Glory Girl towering over me.

"We need to talk." She said before turning away from me. It took me a moment to figure out where exactly I was. Queen and I were still in the position we were when I fell asleep last night. Troll was sprawled across the ground with an empty bottle of booze in one hand. Stravik was sitting in the recliner, Jess curled up in his lap. Alex was sitting with his back against the couch, his head just a few inches away from my hand. James and Anna were passed out from a long night of movie watching on a massive mound of pillows. Anna looked even more cute when she was asleep.

I gently moved Queen aside and tried to move some pillows under her without waking her but it didn't work. She made a moaning noise before grabbing my hand and pulling me closer, shoving her face deep into the pillows.

"Queen, you've got to get up." She let out another groan into the pillows.

"I don't wanna." I sighed and looked around. Suddenly an idea popped into my head.

"Glory Girl will get you pancakes."

"With syrup and butter?"

"With syrup and butter," I confirmed. I then looked over at Glory Girl.

"You can't be serious." She protested lamely. I half shrugged at her, as Queen still held onto my hand.

"If you want Queen to wake up, it going to take pancakes." Glory Girl pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Fine, I'm going."

"Go to the place on the corner of Third and Watson, that's Queen's favourite from around here. And can you bring me a coffee." She flipped a middle finger on her way out the door. I wasn't sure if that was a yes or no to the coffee.

I pulled my hand from Queens grip and looked around the room. Amy was sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal like a normal fucking person. I decided that would be a good place to start a morning at.

"So, any idea what your sister wants?" I asked, sliding into the chair across from her. She glanced up from her bowl at me before looking back down at it.

"New Wave is meeting with the Protectorate in a bit. You guys are kind of the focus for it."

"Meeting after meeting after meeting," I sighed. "Has New Wave even come up with a way to fight Tick Tock yet?"

"Until we got a chance to talk with the Protectorate we were going with a standard 'don't go anywhere by yourself' rule. Everyone has partners now."

"How clever," I said dryly. At that point, Troll groaned and dragged himself off the floor. He pulled a revolver out of his pocket as he said,

"Man, this hangover is killing me."

Troll committed suicide.

I rolled my eyes at him for the first time today, as there will probably be more moments later to roll my eyes at him. On the other hand, the gunshot woke everyone else up and probably scared a few elderly people in the building.

Alex stood up and rubbed his eyes. He ran his fingers through his hair the same way he does whenever he wants to show off how sexy he is. Amy leaned in close to me and half whispered,

"Is he that famous singer that died a long time ago?"

"Yeah," I answered.

"How did you get him on your team?" I shrugged.

"We found him possessing one of Queen's machines and I offered him a spot right then and there. He accepted." Amy shook her head.

"Everything about your team is really weird."

"I noticed."

Stravik stood up and placed Jess in her chair before stretching backwards, causing his back to pop.

"We should have grabbed clothing before we come, yaes." As soon as he said it Troll came into the room with his normal silly grin.

"Never fear, I have you covered." He reached into his inventory and began pulling out sets of clothing for everyone, including spare costumes.

"Why do you have our clothing?" Jess asked him archly. Troll smiled at her.

"In case Tsundere's bad planning ever put us in a situation where we needed fresh clothing." He finished the sentence by tossing a wad of clothing at Jess. She caught it and have it a quick look through before rolling herself towards the bathroom. Troll turned to me, his smile suddenly becoming a little more sinister.

"Would you like red or pink?" He asked me. I raised an eyebrow.

"Red or pink what?"

"Panties, of course." He pulled out a pair of my panties and began stretching them. I noticed Queen had suddenly sat up and was staring at him.

"I'll take the pink ones," I said, not getting what the joke was. I reached out and took the pair from his hands and realized Alex and Amy were staring at me. Did I do something strange?

"Don't forget the matching bra," Troll added, pulling out one of my bras and tossing it at me. I caught it out of the air and said,

"When this is over you're going to tell me when you had time to go through my underwear drawer." Troll grinned nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, right."

"Does that not bother you at all?" Amy asked me. I looked at her blankly.

"No, why would it?" It is just underwear after all. Is there something I'm missing here?

Troll tossed my blue qipao over to me before throwing some of Alex's clothes to him. In a few minutes, we were all clothed and costumed. It was then Glory Girl came back with Queen's pancakes. I guess it was a no to my coffee.

"Yay! Pancakes!" Queen cheered as she leapt out of her seat. She took the pancakes out of Glory Girl's hands and began to eat them ravenously. Glory Girl looked at as if she was asking whether or not Queen was serious. I nodded. Queen suddenly clapped her hands.

"Oh, I just remembered." Queen lifted up her bracelet to her mouth and spoke into it. "AI, order U-boat battalion to assemble battleships Tower, Lighthouse, Beacon, and Arch."

" _Ay-z-aye Captain! Would you like to con-con-con-construct aircraft carrier Dome?"_ Queen shrugged.

"Why a not? Once The Tower has finished, bring in all loose material the Scourges collect."

" _Onrtz- On it Miss Queen!"_ I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Already building more ships?" Queen nodded eagerly.

"I had my Scourges working 'round the clock to pick up all my broken ships! Now I get to make new ones! All the better for when Brigadier shows up again!" Amy and Glory Girl looked nervously at each other and a thought suddenly entered my mind. Were Brigadier attacks going to become a normal thing for Brockton Bay? How would people tolerate having to evacuate the city every few months and then spend millions of dollars restoring it each time? Would the portal Tattletale opened up make up the cost? No one would give Queen the city, not in a million years. But the idea of every few months people would have to leave their homes and hope that they could come back and not find it completely demolished did bode well for anyone. I seriously don't think the world would tolerate it.

"Hey, Queen?" I asked. She looked up at me and smiled. "You build things like you're at war right? You build as much as you can as fast as you can, and then when you fight Brigadier, you overwhelm him with numbers right?"

"That's right!" Queen said a little too cheerfully.

"But wars are fought with big things that take lots of time too, like the Paris guns or the Manhattan Project. That took four years. So what happens when you take a lot of time to build something really amazing?" Queen grinned.

"It would be the bestest best thing in the world! Like my sonic cannons always take five point two more hours to complete than anything else." I smiled.

"Well, you're not moving around anymore, so why don't you build something that takes you months to complete? It would really throw Brigadier off if you did that." Queen's eye glazed over for a moment. I could almost see the ideas flooding her mind.

"So many weapons." She mumbled. I took a few steps towards her and leaned in so no one else could hear. I'm sure Glory Girl would throw a hissy fit if she heard what I said next.

"Flying battleships." Queen's grinned widened so much that I actually think she went completely mind numbingly insane as she began to laugh madly.

"It will take a year!" She declared. I raised an eyebrow.

"To make one?" She shook her head.

"No silly, that would be ridiculous. To make five!" I saw Tenant shaking his head behind Queen now.

"You have no idea what you have just done." He stated. I beamed at him.

'I know, isn't it great?' Glory Girl's hand landed on my shoulder roughly.

"I think it is time we get moving." She said seriously. I threw her a sly smile walked towards the door.

"Alright guys, let's go take down Tick Tock!"

This wasn't what I had in mind. We were in a conference hall provided by Glory Girl's lawyer mom, big enough for anyone who was anyone to attend. And most of them got a seat, including us. Queen, Brute, and Genesis sat to my left. Reaper and Troll sat to my right while Tenant hovered just within my vision near them. Across from me on the other side of the table was Miss Militia, Weld, the rest of the Wards, and Alexandria. Ominous.

New Wave and The Undersiders filled the remaining seats while everyone else was forced to stand. Which was fine, all the important people got to sit down.

"Let us begin," Alexandria said promptly. She raised a remote and pressed a button, turning on a large TV on the other side of the room.

"We are here because yesterday a villain named Tick Tock did this." She pressed a button and twenty-four different pictures appeared on the screen. The were separated into two halves. The first depicted twelve people crucified on upside down crosses. The second half depicted twelve different people in equally gruesome situations. Three of them were crucified at sideways angles, another three had their arms and legs cut off and sewed back onto the wrong person, in the wrong place. Three were hung upside down and wrapped in razor wire. The last three had been chopped in half, with their intestines linking each half of the body before they were tied into one great knot. They were laying against a concrete wall, the name 'Alexandria' drawn on it in their blood. It made even me sick, and I normally wasn't bothered too much by such things.

"They will all live," Alexandria said to the quiet room. "To this day Tick Tock hasn't killed anyone. He believes it is his art style to ruin a person's life as much as possible, but not to kill them. What is important now is we anticipate his next move.

"Tick Tock finds people of interest, people he will target and make his victims. This time, we know six of them to be The Paranorms." Eye turned towards us. Troll gave a happy little wave at them that made me chuckle. I then let a smile spread across my lips knowing it would seem unsettling to those watching.

"That is more to go on than we have ever had," Alexandria continued. "And we need to protect that advantage. Which is why the Protectorate wants The Paranorm's to sit in a safe house until this blows over."

"Hell no!" I started instantly. "Tick Tock came after my team, there is no way I'm going to let you take us out of this!"

"Tsundere please." Miss Militia said, rising from her seat. "Be reasonable on this, you resist every time the Protectorate offers you help."

"Really?" I scoffed at her. That was utterly ridiculous. "Because I don't recall a single time the Protectorate has offered to help us at all. In fact, I seem to recall you threatening us with a kill order the last time we helped you!"

"Tick Tock is not a person to mess around with." Alexandria declared. "If you don't play by the rules you will be playing right into his hands."

"And who is to say I won't be playing into his hands going into this 'safe house'?" I asked angrily. I couldn't believe these people, they were always against us at every turn. I mean yeah, sure, we are villains. But so are The Undersiders and they get some fair treatment! The only reason they wouldn't give us a fair chance was because of Queen.

"Tick Tock is smart, captured every single one of us before we even knew what was happening. He shouldn't even been able to find us! Who is to say he doesn't know about this safe house and is waiting there ready for you to serve us to him on a silver plate?" I felt a tug at my sleeve and glanced at Reaper. He stared at me through the lenses of his mask as he moved his hands rapidly.

"Calm down a bit." I had almost forgotten Tenant let me remember every bit of sign language I had ever come across. Strange how that slipped past me. I nodded to him and took a deep breath, turning myself towards the conversation again. I also noticed between these two minds Tenant had given me that I was switching between them like second nature without really noticing. Was it like this for Skitter? Did everything just come so naturally you couldn't even notice?

"Tsundere, we are trying to do what is best." Miss Militia tried. I could see she really did want us to take this deal, that she actually believed it to be a good choice. But I knew it wasn't, and I wasn't going take this fight sitting down.

"We are too useful," I told them as I leaned over the table. "We have too much potential for stopping him for us to get benched! You need us in there, fighting him directly." Miss Militia looked at Alexandria before sitting back down in her seat. Alexandria shook her head.

"If that is the case, then I'm afraid you have no purpose here at this meeting." Alexandria stood up straight and stared at us hard. I stared back, completely baffled at what just happened.

"You're cutting us out." I started, "Leaving us out to dry in hopes that Tick Tock takes us out because you know you can't."

"You brought this on yourselves," Alexandria stated plainly. I frowned deeply and stared her straight in the eye.

"Fine," I spat. "Let's go guys." The rest of us stood up and started walking from the conference room. Every eye in the room followed me out. I noticed Skitter and Tattletale didn't have anything to say. So that was the way it was going to be?

"One more thing," I said, stopping just before the door. I turned and looked at Miss Militia. "Does it bother you?" I asked her. A look I couldn't discern past over her face.

"Does what bother me?"

"That when Brigadier came to the city the first time you were on the side that ran away from the city and hoped an obsessed man would murder a teenage girl?" I was able to tell the next look that crossed Miss Militia's face. Troubled.

"That teenage girl is the Mad Tinker."

"Yeah," I agreed. "She is. But does that honestly make you feel any better about it?" Before she could answer the television screen flickered and a familiar voice came through.

"Heeeeeeelllllllloooooo there!" Tick Tock sang with a smile. "Right now, I would like you all to look around the room and find out who is missing." People did as he said as he stood there and watched. I didn't move, and instead opted to stand still and give him a hard stare. His eye darted to me and he tilted his head slightly, his mouth widening ever so slightly.

"By now you should have figured out who it was," he continued. "But in case a few of you are slow, I'll clue you in. Glory Girl has for some reason disappeared." He let out a giggle and let the effect sink in. "Now, don't worry. Because I'm going to tell you where she is!" Tick Tock clapped his hands together excitedly. "But first, a few ground rules. Right now there are twelve bombs placed in Brockton Bay's children's hospital and if anyone but New Wave members or The Paranorms enter the warehouse on 33rd and Joel street to retrieve Glory Girl, I will detonate the bombs and you can all say goodbye to the children. You have one hour to respond. I wish you the best of luck and let the games begin!"


	36. The clock strikes them down

There was a noticeable gap between Brandish and Panacea. She stood a good distance away from Panacea with her husband, Flashbang. Between them was the other family in New Wave. Lady Photon and Laserdream. It was kind of depressing to know that this was all that was left of New Wave besides Panacea, PillowMan, and DeathKid on his back.

We stood with PillowMan and Panacea and were probably the only reason why some sort of argument hadn't broken out between them yet. I wonder if we were somehow the cause of this rift.

"That's a stupid thing to think." Tenant chided me tiredly. He always seemed bored and tired with the way of things. Not sure why.

'Well, it kind of makes sense.' I tried lamely. Tenant rolled his eyes.

"No, it doesn't. You couldn't be the cause of Panacea messing with Glory Girl's mind. You can't be blamed that she let a villain into the group."

'Let's not forget they we are sort of friends with them and she was harbouring us in her room.'

"Unimportant," Tenant said dismissively. "The only reason you think this is because you subconsciously link this rift between Panacea and New Wave with your rift between normalcy. Particularly what is normal for capes."

'Stupid subconscious.' I thought. 'Tenant you are both the best and worst psychiatrist ever, you know that?" Tenant sniffed at me.

"If anyone needs it, it be you." I rolled my eyes and took a step forward. Time to do that leader thing I'm expected to do.

"The six of us will go in." I told them all. "The rest of you make sure Tick Tock has no way to escape." No one argued. I looked at Reaper and gestured towards the warehouse with my head. He nodded and when into his ghost form and started flying towards the building before disappearing through the walls.

"We'll go too." Panacea said, taking a step towards me. PillowMan hesitated for a moment before gently taking his sister off his back.

"I'm not taking my sister in there," he told Lady Photon. "Can you watch her while we go?" Lady Photon offered a curt nod and pulled DeathKid a little closer.

"Be careful Brother." I heard her whisper. PillowMan offered a slight smile before turning around to join us. I looked at Genesis's form, some sort of cheetah with leathery bat wings. She leaded the way forward.

The way inside was dark and cramped. Walls had been built and put in place causing us to go down a winding path through the place. I was expecting traps, pressure plates Genesis would trigger, walls Reaper wouldn't be able to pass through. But there was nothing, just this dark silent hallway we walked through without saying a single word. It would have been more reassuring if Tick Tock had put things in place just to spook us.

Suddenly Reaper was in front of us. He raised his hands and did a quick word.

"Come." He darted back down the hallway he came from and we followed, Genesis hot on his heels. He lead us through to a door we immediately burst through and found ourselves in open space. In the very center of that space was Glory Girl, her costume completely red.

She was suspended just above the floor by the same rebar poles that impaled her. I could see the other ends poking through her cape, all of them making some sort of star shape. Tick Tock probably planned that.

"Amy…" Glory Girl said weakly. She raised her head to look at us. One of her eyes was missing. "Help. Me." She hung her head again fell silent

"Victoria!" Panacea cried and ran to her side. She placed her hands on the side of the adoptive sister's face and began to scream. Panacea fell back and cried out and held up her hands.

"Amy! What's happening?" PillowMan cried as he caught Panacea before she fell. She couldn't stop screaming for a moment as her hands began to smoke. A sinister laughter filled the room and Tick Tock walked in.

"Acid, put on top of Glory Girl after her invincibility kicked back on. A shame it doesn't help with the twelve metal bars shoved through her body." He paused a moment to let us hear Panacea scream harder. I got a sick feeling in my stomach as I watched her fingers fall off.

"You are dead." Brute said, taking a step forward. Tick Tock waggled a finger at him.

"I don't think so, not unless you want something to happen to your girlfriend." Brute turned just in time to see Genesis' form disappear, tell us Tick Tock had done something to her. "A little note for the future, don't keep Genesis in such an obvious place and I wouldn't be able to find her." Brute took a few steps towards him, his feet causing cracks in the ground as he walked.

"I would hurry to her side if I were you." Tick Tock stated calmly. Brute froze inches from Tick Tick's face.

"Why?" He demanded. Tick Tock smiled.

"Why, because she only has a short amount of time before her unconscious body rolls off that ten story building she was hiding in." Brute hesitated for a moment and looked back at me.

"Tick, tock, time's running out." Tick Tock reminded him.

"Go," I told him. "We can handle this." Brute nodded and ran out, this time not bothering with the passageway and just running through the walls. Panacea's screams had died down to a whisper. I looked back at her and immediately fought the urge to throw up. All that remained of her hands was a small pile of bones lying on the ground near her. The corrosion had stopped just past her wrists. PillowMan rocked back and forth as he cradled her head in his arms. I was glad he didn't bring his sister into see this.

I suddenly noticed Troll, Queen, and Reaper were all holding their weapons out and I felt stupid that I hadn't. I pulled out a katana and pointed it towards him. He didn't seem to care. He skipped near Panacea, not too close, but close enough.

"Don't cry," Tick Tock said to her. "After all, I gave you what you wanted. All those days at hospitals, healing those sick children, you were doing noble work. You were an angel in the eye of men. But I. Know. Better. You wanted a way out, some excuse that would give a good reason never to have to do it again. Something no one could hate you for. Well, here you go!" Tick Tock spread his arms wide and grinned. "What you always wanted, a way out. Because now you have no hands, and you don't have to touch another patient if you don't want to."

"Tsundere?" Troll asked. "Tell me, why aren't we shooting this guy right now?" Before I could answer, Tick Tock did for me.

"Because you're smarter than that. Because you know I would have never walked into this room if I didn't have something in place to counter that."

"The hospital?" I asked, my anger rising into my voice. I was already feeling a transformation coming on because of it, but I knew I did transform it would cause Tick Tock to spring whatever he has in mind. Which only served to frustrate me more.

"No, no," Tick Tock waved dismissively. "I'll only blow up the hospital if anyone but you enter here, just as promised. A new circumstance, a new insurance policy. It keeps things… fresh."

"So what is it then? What are you threatening us with?" Tick Tock looked offended.

"Threatening? Noooo! I'm leveraging. It's all part of the game after all. You see, it's like I said, four physical, four mental, for a mix of both. Glory Girl was a physical, Panacea was a mental and physical. My next two targets will be a physical and a mental."

"You better start making some sense." Troll warned. Tick Tock held up his hands in mock defense.

"Ask yourself, would I really let Brute out of here that easily? The answer is no. At some point, he fell through the floor where he was knocked out with gas and carted off to a new location that you will never find unless I want you to."

"So you're also a Tinker, to have built all that." If it wasn't obvious before, this made it. There was no way he set up something like that without some Tinker power. But Tick Tock shook his head at me.

"That is the one mistake people make about me all the time, I'm no Tinker. Everyone is obsessed with Tinkers because everything they build is so 'ahead of their time' and what not. But Nikola Tesla was ahead of his time, was he a Tinker? Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton made things that are the very basis of how we understand our world today. Were they Tinkers? No, you see, Tinker make futuristic tech. Which means at some point in our future, normal scientist would have discovered the principles their tech works on and be able to replicate over and over again. In truth, a Tinker only produces what normal man is capable of. And all it takes is the right mind, the right person, to deconstruct what Tinker has built and learn how they work and then apply that knowledge over a much wider area than any one Tinker could ever hope to make. Making me, Tick Tock, a normal human mind, able to outsmart all the Tinkers in the world." Tick Tock paused in his egotistical rambling to look as his timepiece hanging around his neck.

"Now, I really must be going. Have fun with those two! Toodaloo!" He waved as he skipped right out a side door in the place, disappearing from sight again.

"Reaper! Go after him!" I shouted the moment he was out of the room. Reaper darted forward and through the wall to chase him. I dashed to Panacea's side and turned to pointed at Glory Girl.

"Queen, cut those bars off. Troll, find a way to get her free." They both leapt to their task's silently as I knelt down next to Panacea. I brushed the hair out of her face in something of a comforting effort.

"It's going to be okay," I said as soothingly as I could. To be honest, I wasn't sure anything was going to be okay after this. But we had to have hope.

When Brute woke up he found himself lying completely unharmed on the floor. He stood up and shook his mind clear of the fog the knockout gas imposed on him. Then he heard sinister chuckling.

"Brute, Brute, Brute." Tick Tock said slowly. Brute turned and saw Tick Tock standing across the room which was built like a large hallway. It put him about fifty feet away. Just enough that his voice could be heard if he spoke a bit above normal volume. Sitting next to him was Jess, tied to a wooden chair and completely wide eyed. Brute took a step forward but Tick Tock raised a hand and smiled. He pointed upward with a finger.

Brute looked up and saw twelve men chained and strapped to the ceiling, mechanical devices on their heads.

"You and I are going to play a game, Brute." Tick Tock said with the grin on his face widening. "You see, I'm going to take this scalpel." Tick Tock held up the blade for him to see. "And I'm going to cut little Jess here." He pressed the blade to her skin as if to demonstrate. Jess flinched away, but Tick Tock didn't make any attempt to actually cut her. He just smiled.

"The catch is," Tick Tock continued, "Is that to stop me, to save her, all you have to do is come up here and grab her from me. That's it, I promise. But I would like to inform you, that with each step you take in this direction you will send an electric pulse through those twelve officers of the law. Move too fast, they die. Move too slow and your precious little Jess might bleed out. About 3 seconds between every step should keep everyone here alive. Including me."

"Vhat make you think I care about them?" Brute asked harshly. "I'm a villain, they are nobody to me. Why should I not kill you now." Tick Tock giggled and skipped to the other side of Jess.

"Because I know you!" Tick Tock laughed. "I know all of you. And I know that neither you or any of The Paranorms are villains because you're bad; your villians because you simply don't care! You don't care for the law, you only care about having fun and helping others when it's of no expense to you. And that's why I know you won't stop me when I do this." Tick Tock flicked his wrist across Jess' check and a deep red gash opened up. She drew a sharp breath and clutched the armrests of her chair. Brute instinctively took a step forward before he could stop himself. The men stuck to the ceiling above him let out cries of pain as their devices went off and the lights in the long room flickered.

"Let the game begin." Tick Tock chuckled. He took his scalpel across Jess's arm next, making a new line of blood. Brute took a breath before moving another foot forward. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to block out the screams.

"You know," Tick Tock started to say as he made another cut on the back of Jess's neck. "I told you my power, the ability to see the circumstances around a person's trigger event. That included the moments before the event and the aftermath directly after." He made three steady cuts in between the bones on the back of Jess' right hand. Brute took another step. More screams. "But a little known part of this is the longer I spend using my power on someone the more of their life I can see, both backwards and forwards." Tick Tock cut through Jess' pant leg and cut the flesh underneath.

"And I used my power a lot on you. I'm using it right now, as a matter of fact. And would you like to know what I see?" Brute grit his teeth and took another step. The officer's blood-curdling scream filled the air again.

"Do you want to know who you were Brute? Your name?"

"That man died years ago!" Brute shouted at him, his voice briefly slipping into an American accent as he shouted. He frowned, he never knew he could do that before. Tick Tock chuckled deeply.

"Maybe, but did your mother? What about your brother, hmm? Would you like to see them, let them know you're alive? Do you think they'll even want to look at you?" Brute didn't answer, and instead trudged forward, one foot after another. He had made it across half of the room by now.

Unanswered, Tick Tock shrugged and moved to a new spot on Jess to cut. He placed the scalpel at the base of her throat and moved downward.

"Tick, tock, goes the clock," Tick Tock sang. "With this blade I make her bleed. Tick, tock, goes that clock," He dragged his blade downward, cutting through her shirt and making a long incision down the middle of her chest. "As Brute walks towards me." He finished cutting through her shirt and tore it the rest of the way off, doing the same for her bra.

"Tick, tock goes the clock," Tick Tock continued to sing as he made cuts just under her breasts, matching their curvature. "Finished, this game is just about." The suddenly made several very fast cut, very erratic cuts all over her torso. Leaving her bleeding in a few dozen place. Worse, some of the cuts weren't straight, his speed causing him to give her jagged and curved cuts that bleed much worse.

"Tick, tock, goes that clock. Will Jess' time run out?" Unable to hear him sing or the men scream anymore, Brute spoke up.

"You lied." Tick Tock paused for a moment and his face twitched. He turned to face his, dragging his blade across Jess's face carelessly as he did.

"And what, pray tell, did I lie about?"

"You said you'd start with crazy tinker girl, Queen." Tick Tock relaxed and laughed a little.

"Oh, they didn't tell you. I can't say I'm surprised, they were always so oblivious to my artistry."

"Tell me what?" Brute demanded. Tick Tock laughed again.

"That I haven't really started yet! I have twelve victims, and the first six are always practice. A moment for me to reflect on the general atmosphere, make sure I going to enjoy myself, let me know if I've gotten rusty at all. You know the drill." Tick Tock went back to Jess and started cutting parallel lines down her thighs

"Glory Girl, Panacea, You and Jess. You are all just the result of me playing around. Just two more and then the real fun begins." Tick Tock turned his head and looked Brute in the eyes, a wide toothy smile spreading across his face. "And when that happens, trust in the fact Queen will be first." Tick Tock suddenly burst into motion again, cutting up every part of Jess he could find. For the first time since this began, Jess cried out in pain. Brute squeezed his eyes shut. He was nearing the end, but it still felt like a mile away. Jess's scream getting lost among the screams of the other men getting tortured.

"You know, there is another way." Tick Tock said, pausing in his cutting. Brute looked up at him. Tick Tock licked the blood off his scalpel. "I said the electric shocks would come with every step you took in this direction. I never said anything about you turning around and leaving. I'll tell you your name, who and where your brother is, and then I'll leave Jess here tied to some building for you to find later. And everything will be just fine."

"No," Brute said as he took another step. Tick Tock tilted his head.

"No?"

"I will not leave Jess, no matter vhat." Tick Tock sighed.

"My, you really do love this girl don't you? That, or maybe Tsundere's obsession with anime tropes is rubbing off on you. Either way, you have about forty-eight seconds before you finally make get here. So I believe it to be my cue for a quick and timely escape." Tick Tock winked at Brute before darting to a door on the other side of the room and disappearing through it.

Brute took the last sixteen grueling steps before he grabbed onto Jess' chair. He tore off her restraints and pulled her in for a hug. And like that, there were tears.

For almost a minute, he let Jess sob into his coat. All the time his clothing soaked up the tears and blood. When the tears ran out and Jess was reduced to rapid gasps that shook her whole body, Brute pulled her away slightly and looked her in the eyes.

"Let's get you to a hospital." He took off his coat and wrapped it around her bare body before picking her up. She reached out and grabbed his white shirt.

"No more," she whispered.

"Shh, you'll be okay, yaes. We get you better, you can talk then."

"No more cape stuff," Jess told him, her voice barely holding together. "I want out, no more." Brute looked down at her sadly. After a moment her nodded his head.

"I'll talk to Tsundere. We'll get on one of Queen's boats and sit this fight out. No more cape stuff for time, just us." Jess swallowed and pushed her face into his chest, smearing more blood on him.

Brute kicked open the door and found himself in some sort of drainage tunnel. He followed it upwards until he saw a light that could only be coming from outside. Ever mindful to keep Jess comfortable, he jogged towards it. He stopped when he nearly ran into Tsundere and the other Paranorms about to run into it.

He saw Tsundere's expression fall and her eyes go wide the moment she saw Jess in his arms.

"No no no no no…" She murmured. Brute looked at the others. Reaper's mask and silence only gave the cold stare it always gave. Queen was looking downward, kicking at the ground with her shoe. Only Troll met his eyes, and only for a moment as his mask appeared in his hands and he slowly put it over his face.

"His third." Tsundere stated sadly.

"No, fourth." Brute said. Tsundere looked at him as she realized what he meant and her frowned deepened. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll get him, I promise." Brute only nodded at that. Then he looked at her.

"When we get him, I want to be the one to kill him." Tsundere gave him a sad sigh and said,

"I get the feeling you're getting in the back of a very long line."


	37. Everyone will frown

I gripped the railing of the ship. I was standing on the deck of Queen's newest battleship, _The Tower_. It was bigger than _The Spire_. Its guns were more sci-fi than last time too. Though I'm sure it still had plenty of conventional weapons.

Night had settled over Brockton Bay, although I couldn't say the same for Brockton Bay itself. It's toughest heroes, including Alexandria were scouring the city at the moment, investigating any sign that could lead them to Tick Tock. They always travelled in pairs and took such extreme caution that I doubted they would be able to pursue Tick Tock even if they picked up his trail. Too afraid he left the trace on purpose, for those who found it specifically, and had traps for them. Not an unlikely idea actually.

After some time I convinced Queen to let The Undersiders and New Wave stay on her other ships. _The Lighthouse_ for New Wave and _Beacon_ for The Undersiders. Amy, James, and Anna were staying with us.

I didn't like this, I didn't like any of this. I was helpless when it counted, played right into his hands every time. It wasn't hard to do, Tick Tock made sure it was easy to catch and kill him, you just had to make a greater sacrifice to do it. And because of his power, he knew exactly what kind of sacrifice you couldn't make. If it had been me instead of Brute, if anyone of my friends up there in that chair cutting them like that, I would have let those officers die. I'm not heartless, but my friends come first. No doubt Tick Tock knew that and built the game with that in mind. Something specific to Brute.

Damn him.

"You know, that isn't the only way to catch him." Tenant floated into my vision as he spoke.

'What do you mean?' I thought back at him.

"There is one other way, but it is much more risky." He paused a moment to see if I would ask him to continue. When I didn't he pressed on. "He makes people cautious. You noted just a moment ago that heroes are too slow to move against him because Tick Tock has proven on multiple occasion to know exactly how people will react and what actions they'll take; allowing him to set traps specially tailored to each individual following him."

'Right.' I responded slowly.

"So all it would really take is for you to take a risky move to chase him when he expects you to take precaution."

'The downside being if I took risk when he expects risk then he would have me. " I finished for him. Tenant nodded in agreement.

"As you may have guessed, there is no easy answer when it come to Tick Tock." I nodded dismissively and looked past him towards the lights of Brockton Bay. At that moment a gust of wind blew bay and whipped my hair to the side. I hadn't cut it in a while, but it wasn't really necessary as I could now get it to change lengths along with the colour. Right now it was a short blond, close to my original style.

I felt someone enter of range and I turned to looked to see who it was. Alex greeted me with a sly smile before joining me on the railing.

" _How are you doing?"_ He asked me. I shrugged.

"Eh, I'm managing. We're not exactly in a great spot right now."

" _We'll pull through, I'm sure._ " I shrugged again.

"Let's hope." We fell silent and spent a few moments just looking out over the ocean towards the city. I could almost pretend this was peaceful.

" _What do you think he'll do next?"_ Alex signed at me.

"I have no idea. But it'll shock us, probably make us want to deny it was possible, something like that."

" _You certainly know how to inspire people don't you?"_ Alex said sarcastically.

"Oh shut up." I rolled my eyes at him. Suddenly I felt another person enter my range, this one slightly shorter. I turned and saw Queen standing behind me. She was in pink pajamas and looked tired.

"Tsu," Queen said quietly. "Too many people on my ships, I can't sleep." I raised an eyebrow at her.

"They make you nervous?" She nodded. I smiled at her. "You don't have anything to worry about, if they do anything to your ships, we'll hunt them down together." Queen cast her gaze downward and held her hands behind her back, almost nervously if I didn't know better. Was there something else that was bothering her? Tick Tock maybe? He did proclaim Queen as his first target, and Brute recent info made that sound a hundred times worse. I'd be scared too if it were the other way around.

"Could you keep me company? Just until I fall to sleep." I paused for a moment, then nodded. If she was feeling scared, then I would have to be there for her. It's what I do. I walked towards her before looking back at Alex.

"Catch you later," I told him before Queen and I went off. He offered a small wave and went into his ghost form, sinking below the deck of the ship.

Queen lead to the captain's quarters, a room completely identical to the last one in The Spire. I gave Queen a gentle smile before climbing in the bed and pulling up the covers. Queen clapped her hands and the lights went out. She cuddled up next to me, rolling herself into a ball. It wasn't long before we fell asleep.

When I woke up Queen was still asleep, now laying across my arm. She snored lightly, like a purr. It was cute.

I had too many thoughts running around my mind to keep them straight. Thoughts of Amy and James and wanting to see how they're doing. Thoughts of Stravik and Jess and knowing there wasn't anything else I could do for them right now. I thought of Tick Tock. What he has done so far, what he will do. Who he has attacked and how, who he might attack next.

"I can't help you with the other ones," Tenant said, suddenly appearing in my vision. "But if you want to speculate on Tick Tock, I think I can give some insight."

'Tenant, the friend I can't get rid of even if I wanted to, what brings you to this mind?' I asked with a silly grin. Tenant rolled his eyes and began to pace around the room, his cane making tapping noises only I could hear.

"I've had all night to think about Tick Tock and I have come up with a few ideas."

'Alright, shoot.'

"Tick Tock works in twelves and multiples and thereof, right?"

'Right.'

"According to Brute, his first six are just practice. So I thought about it. There are three major groups in Brockton Bay, another multiple of twelve mind you, villians, New Wave, and the Protectorate. He took two from New Wave, then two from us, so-"

'The next two victims are both going to be from the Protectorate.' I finished. Tenant nodded.

"Then we can expect him to slow down and do things one at a time. This is where he is really trying, so things will take some set up on his part."

'And he'll probably take from New Wave, villains, and the Protectorate again.' Tenant nodded in agreement.

"But probably in a random order."

'So we need to warn the Protectorate that Tick Tock is coming for two of them." Tenant shook his head.

"The Protectorate is already on alert for Tick Tock, nothing you say could make them increase the security they already have. And if we know Tick Tock at all yet, he likely already a plan of action in place for the ones he wants to the point we couldn't stop him."

'So there is nothing we can do to help?' Tenant shook his head.

"Not these ones, but if we skip ahead to the next target we might be able to do something."

'Queen.' I stated. 'That's who you're talking about.' Tenant nodded.

"Yes, now think. What is the first thing people would do with this knowledge?"

'Put Queen in the safest location possible and hope it's enough to keep Tick Tock out.' Tenant nodded.

"But we know we can't do that, not with the intelligence and resources he has. So out next option is to use her as bait to draw him out and spring a trap."

'Not much of an option.' I said coldly. Tenant rolled his eyes.

"Of course. So you can't keep her safe here and you can't use her, so what's next?"

'Leave the city and don't look back?' I suggested. Tenant considered then nodded.

"Good, but Tick Tock would anticipate this too and have plans for it."

'So we're back into a corner? Tick Tock has already predicted any move we make and has countermeasures for it."

"Not quite, there is another option. That we take an action he expects, but we do it wrong."

'How do you mean?' I asked skeptically.

"We use Queen as bait, only there is no trap. We throw you into the mix, let him capture both of you. Then when you're in there your power will kick in as he hurts your friend and you kill him there."

'That is an incredible amount of risk and a lot of ways that could go wrong. Not to mention Queen getting hurt is part of your plan.'

"Remember what we said, risk when he expects caution. If we're going to get him, this is the way." I sighed as I thought about it. As much as I didn't like the plan, it was the only one I could think of that seemed likely to work. I groaned as I thought about telling Queen. Well, no time like the present. I gently touched Queen's shoulder and shook her awake.

She moaned and sat up, rubbing her eyes. I felt my eyes widen as I noticed, this woman wasn't Queen.

"Where am I?" The woman asked. I leapt to my feet immediately.

"Who are you! Where's Queen!" The woman looked shocked for a moment, then her expression turned to terror.

"Y-y-you're Tsundere! The Paranorms!" I growled in frustration and stormed out of the room, kicking the door open in front of me. Tick Tock had come straight into our home, took Queen as she laid in the same bed as me! Words could not express how furious it made me, and I tried too. I had my second mind search my entire memory for any word or string of words that could properly portray the sheer, unadulterated, anger I felt right now.

I kicked open the door into the cafeteria and saw most of us had already gathered for breakfast. Good, I needed to talk to them.

"Queen's gone," I shouted, startling everyone in the room. "Taken, right out from under our noses. We need to go and find her. Now!" Alex stood up and faced me, and frown etched into his features.

" _Troll is gone too."_ He signed. Immediately I felt the walls containing my anger burst and suddenly I lost all momentum. I was so thrown off by the fact he had gotten Troll too that my will broke and my anger became a dark grey cloud of depression.

"Anyone else?" I asked weakly. As an answer, Alex went into his ghost form and possed the television. A moment later a recording of Tick Tock appeared, his smile still plastered across his face.

"Good morning Brockton Bay, I'd just like to say I find your attempt to stop me from hacking into every screen in the city very admirable. But I need to get my message out, so it was all for not in the end.

"Last night, I walked into the most dangerous places for a man like me to go, one of Queen's ships, the Protectorate Headquarters, and one of The Undersiders secret bases. Once there, I captured all but one of my planned victims." Tick Tock's smile widened. "I don't want to keep you in suspense, so here they are; Clockblocker, Kid Win, Assault and Battery, Queen of the Castle, Troll, and The Undersider's own little Imp. Now the last five have some very special dates with me that are going to take some time to set up. But I don't want to leave you all bored, so here is your entertainment in the meantime!" Tick Tock twirled out of the way to reveal Clockblocker and Kid Win, both put in a mechanical contraption of some sort. Clockblocker had a towel pulled over his face, masking him from view. The machine he was in appeared to have thousands of drills posed over his skin all over his body. The bad thing was, he was just standing there. There weren't any restraint or anything holding him. Just thousands of little drills.

Kid Win was also standing with nothing to hold him back from leaving. The device that surrounded him was a little hard to tell what it was supposed to do. But I could see it had a lot of wicked looking arms to it.

"Now, I'll tell you what this does," Tick Tock explained as he began pacing gleefully around Clockblocker and Kid Win. "The idea of this is that if either of the moves any more than normal chest risings as they breathe, the other gets punish. In time boy's case, every millimeter Kid Win moves causes those drills to activate and go a little deeper as water jets into his face simulate drowning."

"Kid Win on the other hand," Tick Tock moved his whole body back other to him. "For every bit that Clockblocker moves these arms will come down and draw sandpaper and cheese graters across his skin. And of course if either one leaves the trap entirely, the other one dies.!" Tick Tock threw his head back and laughed maniacally. Suddenly he straightened and pulled out a pin.

"And now, a demonstration" He pricked the back of Kid Win's neck, making him flinch. In response a splash of water struck the towel that covered Clockblocker's face as the drills turned and bit into his costume. In response a single arm came down and knocked Kid Win's mask off as it grazed his forehead. He tensed and bit his lip in response, causing Clockblocker's drills to go a little deeper. Thankfully Clockblocker steeled himself against reacting to it and the cycle stopped for a moment. Tick Tock giggled gleefully and then grew into full-scale laughter.

"Now, there is a very simple way you get out of this." Tick Tock said. "One of you kills the other by leaving the trap. You'll be spared torture, and really, would a true friend want you to suffer?" Tick Tock grinned at Kid Win, getting very close to his face. "You are friends after all right? Hm, such a shame only one of you can see and neither of you can talk. Kid Win, you stand an obvious advantage here that I urge you to take up." Tick Tock paused and thought a moment.

"There is another way if you two would rather suffer. Stand there for three hours and don't die and the traps will disengage. That's it, three hours without betraying each other or dying in the process. The choice is yours. Oh, and it is also going to take about three hours for the Protectorate to be able to trace my single here, so be on the lookout for that and have fun." Tick Tock strode out of the picture with a silly grin on his face. And then it was just Clockblocker and Kid Win standing there in complete silence.

Alex flew out of the television a moment later, the screen shutting off as he did so. He landed gently on the ground and waited a few seconds before he could go back into a solid form. When he did he signed at me.

" _It's been an hour and a half since that aired and Tick Tock has been streaming it on every online video source there is, including hacking back into televisions after he gets removed. They aren't doing well. Clockblocker just had a coughing fit from the water. It was ugly."_ I couldn't even bring myself to respond. Instead, I turned and started walking out the door.

Alex suddenly floated through me before materializing in the doorway, blocking my path. His ghost form had a warm fuzzy feeling to it.

" _Where are you going?"_

"To look for Queen and Troll."

" _There is an entire city out there, she could be anywhere."_ I grit my teeth.

"Then I'm going to have to look harder." Alex paused for a moment then opened his mouth.

"Then let me come help you." I was stunned by how smooth his voice was before I remember he was a singer once. A singer who was able to perfectly perform soft country songs to hard rock songs.

"You speak," I said stupidly. Alex smirked and gave me a smug look.

" _I'll go grab my costume, I'll be right back."_ He signed at me before sinking through the floor. I shook my head to clear it of that revelation. I had to get my costume on too, but I was out of qipaos, Troll had all my fresh ones. I found a red kimono and pulled it on. It was heavier, and according to my power it wasn't as tough because it was less revealing. But it was also warm, which I almost liked better. I took a deep breath and grabbed my katanas before heading for the door, leaving my bokken behind.


	38. As I shatter this crown

It had been a while since I took the time to let my power work its magic on other people, I forgot how fun it could be to have someone that could keep up with me. As it was, even though two of my best friends were captured by a maniac with a torture fetish, I was able to put that far enough in the back of my mind that I was able to have fun jumping across roof tops with Reaper.

I was vaguely aware of my third mind constructing a very detailed 3D model of the city as I ran over it. My range, being about thirty feet in all directions around me, let me know every nonorganic detail down to the cracks in the sidewalk. Thirty feet wasn't anything compared to Skitter's range, but considering a one story building was about fifteen feet tall I was able to get a pretty accurate map going. That is of course, only in most of the city. When you got farther, places the Leviathan's waves didn't even touch, you hit the skyscrapers and taller buildings. I would have headed there first because it had all the warehouses and big empty buildings to hide in. Next to the abandoned places on The Dock, it would have been a perfect place to hide. But I couldn't rule anything out with Tick Tock so I head to the unlikely places first. Which is why Reaper and I were running across people's roof tops at two in the morning.

Reaper suddenly darted past me and did a flying leap to the next house, flipping several times in the process. He landed perfectly, facing me and striking a pose as if to challenge me. Not to be outdone, I smiled and ran forward.

I did about as twice as many flips as him and landed on my hands, following that with several flips across the roof. Each time I landed on my feet I flipped and landed on my hands, pushing off and landing on my feet again. I did this until I reached the end of the roof, pushing off one final time and doing another series of flips onto the next house.

I turned towards Reaper with a silly grin on my face. He held his hands up in surrender for a moment before signing,

" _Alright, you win."_ I laughed a little then a sigh escaped my lips.

"What are we doing?" I said.

"Having a little too much fun," Tenant murmured in the corner of my mind.

'Shut up,' I thought/told him.

" _Cheering you up."_ Reaper signed. " _You were extremely angry when you learned about Queen, evident that you literally kicked the woman meant to replace her off the ship. Then you got really depressed when you heard about Troll. So I thought maybe a bit of fun would do you some good."_ I briefly wondered if his bluntness would be off putting to others, or if bringing up those other things would make a normal person feel down again. I guess it was a good thing I wasn't normal.

"You can say that again." Tenant muttered.

'Shut up Tenant.'

"Well, it's sort of working," I told him. "But we do need to find those two."

" _Of course, but you know the chances of finding them and I want something to come out of this trip if nothing else."_ I nodded and moved on to the next building.

"You know," Tenant said, "That wasn't a normal conversation normal people would have."

'Tenant if I have to explain to you why the term 'normal' doesn't apply to anything we so much as look at were going to have problems.'

"Just making sure you're aware. What's the point of having full access to your mind if I don't make sure you self aware all of the time?" He fell silent after that. I ran for a good ten minutes, letting my second mind race Reaper as my first mind looked over the data I was gathering from my surroundings.

After about an hour we had cleared this section of the city, and now we were on to The Docks. But I couldn't take much more of the micromanaging Tenant and I were doing, it was just too boring. So I set my second mind to the task and brought my first to Reaper.

"So, are you going to tell me why you don't speak?" I asked him idly. Reaper paused a looked at me. He held up his hands and signed,

" _I told you, Alexander Blane died a long time ago."_ I rolled my eyes a little.

"That's not an explanation." Reaper paused again, his mask making it impossible to tell what he may have been thinking or feeling.

" _My career was my music, my voice. Then I saw all my friends die and my career go down in flames. Without my career I was nothing, so I stopped speaking because my voice is Alexander Blane. I prefer to be Alex, a Paranorm."_

I quirked my lips. "I don't get it."

"It symbolic." He said, his voice slightly muffled by the mask. "Helps me remember that I can't ever go back to that life. So I save my voice for those that truly deserve it." I thought about it for a moment. Then I grinned.

"So I'm 'worthy' of your voice then?"

" _Something like that. Come on, let's keep going."_ I was about to follow him when I felt someone below us enter our power range. I grabbed Reaper by the coat to stop him before he ran off. I pulled him lightly in the direction this person was coming from before letting go. Letting him follow me to the end of the roof to see who it was who showed up.

Miss Militia was waiting patiently on the ground, her arms crossed and a cigarette dangling from her mouth.

"Hey there," I called down to her. Miss Militia gestured for me to come down. I looked at Reaper and shrugged before leaping down to join her on the ground. "Out for a stroll?"

"Looking for you two." She answered. She took her cigarette out and tapped it over the ground to get rid of the ash. "I need your help with something." I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Last I checked we weren't on such good terms with the Protectorate." Miss Militia nodded.

"Alexandria's plan. She and the rest of the Protectorate will only work with you if you if there is some way to lessen your strength or give us some measure of control over the situation."

"And you don't?" I asked suspiciously. I wanted to think she was here on goodwill, but Skitter had sort of ingrained in me a distrust of anything the Protectorate did. I had to take a measure of caution.

She took a breath and looked at me hard. "I did, but then Tick Tock snagged four of our members right out of HQ. Things have changed." She paused as if considering something. Then she said, "And I thought about what you said about Queen and how we enabled Brigadier to do what he liked. I don't like it. I'm not going to do the same now that Tick Tock has her now." I smiled widely at her and we gazed at each other for a moment. It was a small victory. She isn't going against the Protectorate, but she was acting a little outside the lines they drew. One more ally for us I guess.

"Alright, what do you need?" Miss Militia dropped her cigarette on the ground and crushed it with her boot.

"We have a lead on where Tick Tock might be but no one is moving to investigate until they have all their bases covered."

"And you think it'll be too late before they move in?" She nodded. "Alright, what's the lead?"

"The broadcast Tick Tock is streaming across the city is being sent through a long chain of different routers all over the city. Each router is streaming the broadcast from data it's getting from the last router, which is getting sent from the router before it."

"Creating a never ending chain that has you running in circles." I finished.

"Right," she confirmed with a nod. "But he has been leaving little notes for us at each location. Most of them had just detailed which of his victims were his mental attacks, his physical ones, and both."

"And what was that?" I asked with a frown. Miss Militia glanced at me briefly before answering.

"Glory Girl and Genesis were both physical traumas. Brute has been the only mental victim so far. Panacea, Clockblocker, and Kidwin are all supposed to be both mental and physical."

"Leaving one more victim for both, two more for physical, and three more for just mental."

"Right, but my point was that one of these notes was written on the back of a business card. A card to a play house on the north side of two, ten minutes away from Queen's little military base at Captain's Hill."

"A play house? Like a playground for kids?"

"No, as in a stage and performance. And knowing Tick Tock's proficiency for the dramatic…" She trailed off and I nodded my head. It fits.

"Did you find anything there?"

"Thermal imaging shows two people inside, just standing there and not doing anything. It could be Clockblocker and Kidwin, but there is no way of confirming without going in."

"Which is where we come in." She nodded and turned to us both.

"If that's it, will you help me get to them?"

I smiled. "Of course, lead the way." She paused for a moment and said,

"I don't have a way of transporting you two."

"Not a problem, Reaper?" I looked back at Reaper and snapped my fingers. He nodded and floated off the ground in his ghost form before speeding off and jumping into someone's truck, causing it to rev up as the engine turned on.

"We'll just ride Reaper over there." Miss Militia gave me an odd look that I wasn't exactly sure was for. I decided to ignore it and climbed inside the truck, inviting Miss Militia to join me. After a moment's hesitation, she climbed into the driver's seat and put her hands on the wheel.

"Does he drive or do I?"

"Either or, I don't mind," Reaper said through the speakers of the truck. It didn't sound like his voice, in fact, I think he made it rather feminine on purpose. Miss Militia only answered by putting her hands on the wheel and shifting into gear. And then we were off.

I cut through the ceiling of the play house with a katana and gave a wink to Miss Militia before jumping in head first and doing a flip to land on my feet. Reaper and Miss Militia jumped in after me, having spent a decent about of time in my sphere of influence.

We were in the middle of the auditorium, having landed on a few of the cushioned seats. The place was lit with an orange glow from the lamps all over the room. It was quite and not a person in sight.

"So… Now what?" I asked. Miss Militia looked around, an assault rifle raised in front of her.

"We look for the Clockblocker and Kid Win. But I'm concerned there doesn't appear to be anything here to stop us at all." I frowned. It bothered me a little too.

"If Tick Tock was sure that we wouldn't find where these two were supposed to be until his time limit was up it might make sense he wouldn't put anything here to stop us. Just to rub it in our faces that we made things more difficult than they should have been." Miss Militia frowned deeply.

"Perhaps. But we should-" She was cut off when the lights suddenly went out and spot lights flicked on, lighting up the closed curtain of the stage. Speaker clicked on with a hum before Tick Tock's voice began to come through.

"So good to see you here on time. Seeing how I recorded this in advance, I don't know which of you showed up tonight but I'll take my best guess. Miss Militia wouldn't like sitting this out while she could be helping, but she wouldn't do it alone. And since the Protectorate won't help her, that leaves The Undersiders or The Paranorms. I'm going to guess The Paranorms, and if I know my work as well as I think I do it should be just the remaining three members. Tsundere, Reaper, and the other one." I was intensely aware of Tenant looming in my vision. He knew about Tenant, but I had already known that. What got me was he was being very vague about it, not letting Miss Militia know. Was there some point to that? Some sort of game he wanted to play. Miss Militia cast a sidelong glance at me.

"The other one?" She asked.

"We left Brute back on the ship," I said lamely. No use in telling her what she didn't need to know.

"Well," Tick Tock continued. "I am so glad you came, because I have something really impressive to show you. Now, I must say that I normally always try to incorporate a person's trigger event into my art. With Brute it was his torture done to his loved one. With Panacea, it was releasing her from the burden her power put on her. With Glory Girl, I was making up for the easy trigger she had by putting her in the hardest situation she has ever been in. She won't be playing baseball after that!" Tick Tock's laughter filled the auditorium. It quickly died off and Tick Tock started speaking again.

"But every now and then I see someone who is just so boring! Neither an interesting trigger nor any struggles with their powers as Panacea had. These poor soulless people with nothing interesting in their life don't make for good art. But I do my best, as I did for Clockblocker and Kid Win. Friendship rivalries are about the only thing interesting happening in their life. But this time, I was really hard pressed.

"You see, Assault and Battery are very uninteresting. Sure, how they became a couple was somewhat neat to see. But Battery is a liar that didn't have a trigger event and Assult watched his father get the snot beat out of him in an alley behind some bar. Not good material to work with. But then I found this tidbit from his childhood. Assault used to be really into puppet shows. So I thought, why the hell not? Let's run with it, and then this beauty was born."

I heard the stage curtain pulling open and turned around to see it. Miss Militia had been scanning the room for trouble and had to turn too. When the curtain opened completely I felt a little sick to my stomach.

Assault and Battery were dangling from the ceiling on puppet strings. Stakes were shoved through their wrists and feet, dried blood showing how it bleed out of them. The lower half of their jaws had been removed and replaced with crude metal ones that were also attached to strings.

And then the strings began to move.

"Hello there," Tick Tock said, doing his best impression of Assault as his metal jaw moved back and forth. "My name is Assault and I'm here to tell you how much I screamed when papa Tick Tock dislocated my shoulders and elbows for this. I would also like to point out how much distress I was in when he made me watch him cut off Battery's jaw while she was still awake for it."

"Hey," Tick Tock's Battery voice said as the strings made her pull up her hand in a fake friendly wave. "I stayed awake dangling here for a good hour, praying someone would come and help us. Would you like to know what I screamed? What I cried for? I cried for Assault and I screamed for every name of every hero I could remember. None of them heard me. Where were you Miss Militia? You were supposed to lead us. You were supposed to help us." He started laughing in his mock voice of Battery, but as he grew louder he switched to his own voice. When his laughing was at its peak he suddenly stopped and started talking again.

"You know what? I'm in a generous mood, so I'll give you a hint as to where my next little project is going to be set up at. It should be finished by the time you figure it out. Assault and Battery here wrap up my solely physical victims, though I'm sure some mental damage is to be entailed with it. Ah, what can you do? Anyway, my next victim is Imp and she is going to be a bit of both. And to find her, simply ask: Where was she running from, and where was she running to. That'll be all, see you later." He said the last bit with a deep, sinister tone.

"You should go after her." Miss Militia said quietly. She lowered her weapon and stared up at the two of them on the stage. Every now and then their limbs would move and their jaws would open and close silently.

"I'll help you get them down," I said, taking a step forward.

"No, every second counts against him." Miss Militia said curtly, not leaving any room for disagreement. "And he was right, these two were my responsibility." I almost spoke again before I stopped myself. Tenant walking into my vision, his cane making a tapping sound even though the floor was carpet.

"Would you like to know what you're thinking?" He asked. I didn't answer him. I stared silently at him. He read my mind nevertheless. "You're thinking that after this, finding Imp might give you another clue towards finding Queen and Troll. And thus, you want to abandon Miss Militia and these others and go look for her. Not for her sake, but for yours."

'Piss off Tenant.' I thought at him before turning back towards Miss Militia.

"Reaper, stay here and help Miss Militia cut those two down." I order him. "Help her any way you can."

"Tsundere-" Miss Militia began before I cut her off.

"No, I'm not asking. Let Reaper help you, I'm going after Imp." Before she could utter a response, I turned and jumped back up through the hole in the ceiling.

I was about to run straight for the ship The Undersiders were on, tell them what happened and see if we could figure it out together. But then I realized that's what Tick Tock wanted, to delay me a little more. Get more people involved, complicate and slow things down. I needed to do something else.

Trigger events, he made his 'art' with trigger events in mind. What was Aisha's trigger event?

"Tenant?"

"You don't know, you were never told," Tenant answered me. I swore under my breath. "But there is a bit here where Skitter explained to you a bit about Aisha and Brian's history."

"What's it say?"

"That she ran away a lot from her mother and then later her father. Often times looking to Brian for help and otherwise."

"She is running from her mother to Brian," I stated. But she couldn't run on water to a ship, unless Tick Tock had done something to fix that. Maybe he put her at her mother's house and strapped a bomb to her and told her to run to Brian before the timer ran out. There were a hundred different variables to this I didn't know that Brian and Taylor might. But there is only one place in this city she could run to that meant Brian. Grue's lair.

I whipped out my phone and sent a text to Skitter and Tattletale. The only one I had the number of.

'Tick Tock is having Imp run from her mother's to Grue. Don't know the details, I going to Grue's lair to see if there is something there. Go to her mother's and see if you can find her at some place in between.' As soon as I sent it I turned toward the area of town Grue's lair was and I pushed off the roof. The moment I did I felt a transformation kick into place. I understood it the moment it was accessible to me, a speedster. As usual, my power always gave me what I needed.


	39. Hickory Dickory D-

This particular brand of speedster left a trail of fire as I ran. I decided that because of that it would be better if I didn't run across people's roof tops. Running this fast was really fun, like playing a video game where you run down a road and avoid obstacles. Only if I did miss one it was going to hurt, a lot.

I did okay though as my perception of the world around me heighten to the point I could avoid things easily. I did leave a homeless guy a little worse for wear though. Turn's out, his shopping cart could and did catch on fire.

I screeched to a halt just outside of Grue's lair and took a breath before cautiously opening the door. I tripped some sort of wire and caused confetti and party horns to go off around me.

When the confetti cleared I took a step inside and saw Tick Tock standing there waiting for me.

"Hello, Tsundere. What a pleasant surprise. I knew it couldn't be Imp, no way she would be done yet."

"Tick Tock." I hissed, drawing a katana and leveling it at him. "Give me a reason not to gut you right now."

Tick Tock chuckled a little. "Well, for one thing, if you kill me now you'll never find Queen and Troll."

"There are other ways to get information from you."

Tick Tock rolled his eyes. "Please, I am the master of torture. I'm more likely to enjoy it than anything." Tick Tock began pacing the room in a wide circle around me. Grinning wildly at me, he reached into his jacket pocket. "But of course, if you need another reason there is this." He pulled out a glass vial was a bright green substance inside. His grin widened impossibly wide..

"Right now Imp is running through the city with a deadly toxin in her body." Tick Tock said happily. "Should her heart rate drop below a hundred and twenty beats per minute the toxin will start to attack her body. First, there will be this immense pain in her abdomen as her appendix swells and her stomach lining gets eaten through. Then she'll begin to find it hard to breathe to the point that every breath she takes is like fire to her throat and every moment of every day her lungs will scream for air. Then her vision will fail as her eyes rot in their sockets. Finally she'll develop chronic arthritis in every joint in her body followed by extreme muscle deterioration. But if all that is worth you killing me here and now, by all means." Tick Tock held up his arms as if to give me an open shot. I knew I should not have done anything, but I was beyond pissed. Using his opening, I ran up to him with my super speed and grabbed the vial in his hand before bringing up my knee straight into his gut.

His hand released the vial and I ran back away from him. Tick Tock fell to his knees and let out a wheezy chuckle.

"Oh, I was not expecting that. Well played."

"Now, where are Queen and Troll?" I demanded. Tick Tock's chuckling grew a little louder.

"Oh no no no. No more hints, you getting that vial is cheating enough. Let's just say, that this will all be resolved tomorrow."

"Then I'll make sure you die tomorrow," I promised him. He just smiled at me.

"Why, of course you will Tsundere." I was about to spit on him, just to insult him, but then I remembered something.

"You said Queen would be first but she wasn't. Why Assault and Battery? Why Imp when you said Queen would be first." Tick Tock smile faded a little and it became fixed on his face.

"I made a small error with her torture and I need more time. Even the greatest artist sometimes mess up a piece I suppose. Oh well, it wasn't important that she went first anyway, it was only important that she went. Now I'll be off, but one more thing." He grinned as he rose off the floor. "I wanted to tell Grue myself, but be sure to let him know for me that Imp won't be running away for a while." He gave me a little bow before walking off in deeper into Grue's lair. Likely to his secret entrance. I felt my phone vibrate in the secret pocket of my kimono and pulled it out. A message from Skitter.

'We found Imp. Tick Tock gave her some sort of poison, makes her have to run. Can't even speak right now, but she is going towards Grue's lair like you said.'

'I got the antidote. Where are you?' I quickly sent back. It was torture waiting for the answer. Every second ticked by was another few seconds Imp would be in a worse shape when I did get this to her. Suddenly, Skitter's response came back.

'By Arcadia High. Hurry.' I didn't even respond as I shot off in the direction she indicated, a blaze of fire trailing behind me.

Skitter's bugs found me the moment I entered her range, making arrows that pointed me in her direction. I followed them as fast as I could, tearing up the streets as I did so. But I could feel my power weakening. My transformation was slipping away from me. That hadn't happened before. Normally I was done and released my form voluntarily, I wasn't expecting the transformation to be able to wear off. Not a good sign.

Luckily I found them before it went off altogether. I was about fifty feet away before I lost my power stumbled a little before catching myself. I looked up and saw Imp jogging toward me. It didn't look good.

Her veins were black and throbbing through her skin as she jogged toward me. Her hair was loose and her mask long gone as sweat drenched her face and costume. She was gripping her stomach tightly and a cold feeling dropped in my gut. I quickly uncapped the vial and held it out to her as she ran up. She took it quickly and threw it to her lips and began drinking it greedily.

She kept jogging for a few minutes until her veins returned to normal and only then did she stop to catch her breath. After a few seconds of drawing a deep breath she collapsed to the ground, Grue catching her in his arms before she fell.

Unable to do anything to help, I watched as Grue and Regent dragged her off. Skitter and Tattletale walked up to me afterward, Bitch staying behind with her dogs. When they got to me I could see Tattletale frowning seriously. I was getting a little tired of seeing people's trade mark grins disappearing because of Tick Tock.

"Thank you for that." Skitter said to me. "Grue's been more worried than he'll admit, and Regent had been very tense."

"Yeah," Tattletale cut in. "If it we went any longer without hearing anything Grue and Regent were going to have a fist fight."

I smiled tiredly and shook my head a little. "Happy to help I guess. Just wish I didn't have to go through hell just to learn nothing about where Queen and Troll are."

Skitter's head tilted to the side. "What do you mean?"

I took a deep breath and sighed. "Miss Militia came to us for help on a lead they had found and it took to us finding Assault and Battery, turned into human puppets at some playhouse near the north end of Captain's Hill. That's how I found out about Imp. Which means…"

"Troll and Queen are the last ones." Tattletale finished for me. I swallowed and nodded. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Reaper standing next to me. The lenses of his mask stared back at me for a moment before he nodded and gave my shoulder a squeeze. It was silent comforting, telling me it will all come out alright. I gave him a weak nod back and looked at the others.

"I'll catch you guys later. I'm going to head back for the night, keep an eye on things and such."

"Be careful," Skitter told me. More of an order than anything. I nodded and started to walk away. I gave them a little wave before Reaper and I rounded the corner and they disappeared from sight.

We made it back to the ship thirty minutes later and I was beginning to feel a touch of weariness at the edges of my power. I flexed my influence a little bit to push the feeling away. I can sleep when Queen and Troll make it back.

The first thing I did once we were back on the ship was head straight to Panacea, DeathKid and PillowMan's room in the hopes at least something was going to get better tonight. I knocked on the door and waited impatiently. James opened the door and paused when he saw me before immediately looking a little. My impatience immediately fell flat when I saw him. I gave him a sympathetic smile before telling him,

"Hey, just wanted to check in. Can I come inside?" James hesitated for a second before nodding and opening the door a little wider.

"I'll put on a pot of coffee." He said before walking away from the door. I pushed my way into the room after him and drew a sharp breath when I saw the others.

Glory Girl was lying unconscious on the bed, seemingly okay for the time being. Amy was sitting in a chair nearby. The ends of her arms were wrapped in bandages and her eyes were downcast. I felt a twinge of sympathy for her, but that wasn't new. I'm sure she got condolences from everyone that knew her and she already knew she had mine. But I noticed her eyes weren't downcast because she was sad, but rather at a screen.

The odd thing was that Anna was sitting in her lap, watching cartoons on a small tablet. Amy rested her right arm on her head and she looked over Anna's shoulder, watching the cartoon with her. There was a slight smile playing across her lips too.

She looked up at me as I entered the room and her smile faded. I tried to give her one of my own, but no doubt it looked a little sad.

"How's it going?" I asked her. She shrugged a little.

"Good, more or less."

I nodded. "Good, good." Things fell into an awkward silence that persisted until James came back into the room with two cups of coffee. He handed one to me before sitting down next to Amy. He raised the mug up to her lips and she took a sip.

"How are you and Glory Girl doing?" I asked. Amy frowned.

"It still stings and probably will for a while. It was a nasty way to lose my hands, the flesh was badly damaged. I doubt it will ever not hurt at least a little." She paused and looked up at her sister. "She's doing alright but I'm still healing her. The damage Tick Tock did with those poles was… extensive. It takes her body time to make enough material for me to let grow back in place. The issue though is that…" She trailed off for a moment and James lifted the mug to her lips again. She took a sip and then continued.

"They way he shoved the pole through her body was expert, as if to do as much damage as possible without doing anything that would harm her permanently. At best she might have had to be hooked to a machine every night to clean her blood, but that's it." I took a deep sip of the coffee James brought me as I thought on that. Not enough sugar.

"Tick Tock is scary like that," I concluded. Then I looked at her seriously. "Which is why I need all the help I can get when this all goes down tomorrow." Amy stared at me for a few moments and sighed. She gingerly ran her arm across Anna's head the same way she might have run her fingers through her hair.

"I don't know Tsundere. I… I don't know if I could face him after what he did."

"And I won't ask you to," I answered. "Just be there, is all I'm asking. Let him know he hasn't divided us." Amy didn't answer. Instead, she stared off into space towards Anna's cartoon. Suddenly James stood up.

"I'll be there." He said.

"Me too," Anna said, barely above a whisper. I looked between them.

"Are you sure? It'll be dangerous." James walked over to me and set the coffee cup on the table next to me. He looked at me in the eye with a smile on his face.

"I wouldn't have met Amy if you didn't pull me and my sister from that pillow fort The Merchants had us cornered in. I owe you, and if you ever need anything you know who to call." He held out a hand for me to shake. Instead, I pulled him into a hug.

"Ooo, you're so sickeningly sweet it adorable!" I teased him, squeazing him hard enough he began to choke.

"Ack! Lemme go!" He panicked. I giggled a little despite myself and let go. I saw Amy was smiling too.

"Then I'll see you guys tomorrow. Have fun." I gave them a little wave before I walked back out the door.

Stravick was standing outside waiting for me, his arms crossed and a cigar in his mouth. I gave him a smile and a wave as well. I felt like I was giving those out a little more than I had too.

"I heard what you say," Stravick told me seriously. "And tomorrow, I vill be there too." My smile widened considerably.

"Thanks Strav, it means a lot. But what about Jess?"

Stravick hesitated a moment before answering. "She's done for now. No more cape." A confused looked moved over my face.

"She's leaving The Paranorms?"

"No… Just not fighting anymore. She is staying, just won't use power now. Says she is tired, wants to do other things. She stays for me." I nodded my head.

"I hope it works out for you."

"Me too." I sighed deeply and started to walk past him.

"Come on," I said, "Let's get some sleep before we kill a psychopath."


	40. The One Worse Than Tick Tock

I decided not to sleep last night. Instead, allowing my power to just run uninhibited for a few hours until the sun rose. Even with that amount of time I spent letting my power go I didn't get any transformation accessible to me. I guess it was only a thing available for me during a fight. Irritating.

I had realized at some point that my clothing and hair had been shifting colour randomly as I stared off into space, looking over the bay towards that city. In fact, I hadn't noticed until my hair started to grow really long before suddenly shrinking again. I closed my eyes and focused on an image. Long pink hair, cat ears, green eyes, and a pink and white kimono. My power changed the colours and hair lengths accordingly and then stayed there.

With a sigh of frustration, I leaned forward and gripped the railing as I continued to watch the city. The sun was coming up over the ocean behind me, the first rays hitting my back and warming my skin through the fabric of my kimono.

I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder and looked around to see Reaper standing there.

" _How is it going?"_ He signed to me. I sighed again and turned back towards the city.

"Not well. No sign of Tick Tock yet." He raised his hands to sign again, not even pausing to make sure I was looking at him. But I didn't need to, though he was only a shadow to me I could still feel the forms of his hands working inside of my sphere of influence. I probably knew what his hands were doing better than he did.

" _Not what I meant. How are you doing?"_

I shrugged. "I'll be fine once Tick Tock is dead." Reaper raised his hands again but then dropped them like he decided against it. After a few moments of silence, I noticed Tenant floating in my vision.

'What?' I asked.

"You want to talk about it." He stated, not a question. I bit the inside of my cheek.

'Is that what you're here for?'

Tenant shook his head at me. "I just point out when there is something wrong with your head, no shortage of things there, but you'll have to find other people if you want that annoying 'human' connection." I rolled my eyes at him then glanced back at Reaper.

He stood still and silently. His black lenses reflected the city skyline in front of us and his long coat flapped gently in the ocean wind. His mask made him look completely passive, with no hint as to what he might thinking about or looking at underneath.

"It worries me," I stated out of nowhere, just to see how he would react. He turned his head slightly towards me and didn't say anything. I took that as a sign to continue.

"When Tick Tock captured us the first time and said he would start with Queen, he said that Queen experienced something so terrible her mind decided it would be better to retreat into insanity than to face that reality. I just can't help but be afraid he is recreating that torture for her. And if he is, I don't think I'll ever be able to get Queen back." Reaper lifted up his hand and put it on my shoulder again, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"You will get her back." He stated softly. I smiled a little. Reaper has been very reassuring lately and I definitely needed it. With Queen and Troll gone, Brute and Genesis taking a break, and Panacea, PillowMan, and DeathKid down in the dumps I was beginning to feel a little alone here. And I don't know how I could handle being alone, I had worked so hard to make sure I was always doing something for or with someone. It was Skitter and The Undersiders at first. Now it's Queen and The Paranorms. I always had to move, always had to do something because if I stopped I would have to think about it and that would suck. Knowing it was there was fine, but thinking about it wouldn't help me at all.

"You do that a lot, you know." Tenant said.

'What?'

"Avoid the truth. It is a lot less obvious than what most people do so I'll applaud you for the work around, but when something bad like this happens you refuse to think about it too hard. You'll accept it is there and that something needs to be done about it, but you maintain just enough blissful ignorance that you don't have to face it all at once."

'And why would I do that?'

Tenant sighed. "Because you know it would break you. You did it after the Leviathan attack where your parents died, your life long home was crushed, and your little sister died after you worked so hard to save her. You put off thinking about it, focus on moving, staying alive, joining The Undersiders. And it worked, because a few weeks later you looked back and accepted it without it totally wrecking you emotionally. I don't know how, but somehow you found a healthy way to bottle up your emotions. Very interesting if you happen to have a full understanding of your mind."

'Sounds confusing.'

Tenant nodded. "It is, in fact it is a little insane. The same insanity I found inside of Queen actually."

'Wait, hold up. Are you saying Queen and I are the same crazy?'

Tenant rolled his eyes at me. "No, hardly. Queen's mind is completely shattered beyond all recognition of what a human psyche is supposed to look like. I'm surprised she can function with the level of normalcy she does now. I mean honestly, her mind is so incredibly fouled up that neither I nor Panacea could make heads or tails of it, Bonesaw had some sort of break down when she saw her, Tattletale power continues to freak out every time she glances at her, and three of the Protectorate's best Thinkers had been hospitalized just from attempting to use their powers on her. And then there was that one file from the Protectorate Troll stole that said that Armsmaster had some sort of seizure when attempting to examine her machines to find out why they are as efficient as they are. Now if any of that sounds like you, let me know."

'You did say that my crazy reminded you of Queen.'

"I meant in that mind of yours that is mostly normal if a bit eccentric, there is a minuscule grain of insanity that resembles Queen." I grinned at him, causing him to roll his eyes.

Suddenly I felt Reaper shaking my shoulder. I turned around and I saw him holding up a cell phone, the screen on displaying another broadcast from Tick Tock.

"Hello there Brockton Bay!" He sang through the microphone he was holding. He was standing on top of a car that was crawling down some street in the city. There was a large gathering of people around watching him, looking at his car for whatever reason. "I know you have all be wondering how I was going to top my shenanigans from last night and I'm here to tell you exactly that." Tick Tock reached forward and turned the camera that was doing the broadcasting. I felt my eyes widen when he stopped moving and the camera focused on the scene.

Queen had her wrists tied together with a chain that connected her to a car bumper. She was also completely naked for the world to see. I couldn't see her face as her eyes were downcast and her curly orange hair fell forward to hide her look. Tick Tock suddenly turned the camera back towards himself, showing his grin once more.

"Now, this isn't the piece of artistry I planned for her, oh no I'm just getting started. This was just a way to send a message. You can follow this car to where we are going and you can surround the place and do whatever, but if anyone but Tsundere enters I will blow up the three tallest buildings in the city! You all know the drill by now. By the way, you have two hours."

I looked up at Reaper and he nodded before I could say anything. He sank beneath the ground and disappeared. Panacea, Brute, PillowMan, and DeathKid all came out on the deck a minute later. All in costume and ready to roll.

I looked over to the other ships and saw the New Wave members that could fly lifting off the ship and heading out towards the city. A few gave me a curt nod in my direction. The Undersiders were moving too, bring boats around and climbing into them.

Reaper bought a Higgins boat around to the side of the ship we were standing on and I immediately climbed over the railing and took the seventy-foot drop with my powers. I heard a bit of protest from up above a moment before I saw Brute leaping over the edge with the other three in tow. PillowMan summoned a few dozen pillows to coat the floor with before Brute slammed against the deck of the boat and dropped his 'passengers' on it. Reaper immediately kicked the boat into motion, heading towards the shore. I could feel a transformation beginning to form on the edge of my power.

I stood in front of the building Tick Tock and Queen were in. The car Tick Tock had used to lead Queen through the city was parked in front of a set of long decorative stairs leading into a tall building. It was the Brockton Golden Star Hotel. The place meant for rich people when they came to do their banking and what not. Or at least I think that's the point, I don't know what rich people do.

Brute and Reaper stood behind me, but they were small in comparison to the several dozens flying capes that were buzzing around the building. Alexandria, in particular, being something of an intimidating presence. New Wave and about thirty other Protectorate capes were here, plus Bitch's dogs. Despite the fact I knew most of them were actively trying not to look at me I still felt like most people were staring at me.

Alexandria descended from the sky and landed gently on the ground in front of me. She gave a quick, dismissive look over before telling me,

"He is on the thirty-sixth floor. Be swift, but don't kill him until we can find and disable those bombs."

"Righto," I gave her a mock salute before turning back and giving Brute and Reaper a nod. Reaper held up his hands and signed to me.

" _Are you sure you don't want me to follow you? Secretly of course."_

I shook my head. "He'd know. I don't know how, but he'd know." I took a deep breath and looked at the hotel. I took a few steps towards it when I suddenly felt footsteps enter my sphere of influence with no body attached to them. I already knew who it was and waited for her to come closer. Imp popped into existence next to me and said,

"Thank you, be careful." The moment she said it she used her power again and ran back out of my range. I smiled started walking towards the building.

When I opened the front door the reception area was unsurprisingly empty. It was a nice place with rich green carpets and gold decorations all over the place. I place for rich people. Then speakers kicked on.

"Ah, Tsundere. So nice of you to join me." Tick Tock said. "As you undoubtedly know, I'm on the thirty-sixth floor. So just hop in the elevator come on up. I'll keep you company on the way." I stopped myself from making any remark to that and walked to the elevator directly in front of me. When the doors open and I walked inside I saw a smiley face drawn with red marker on every button except for the proper floor. I quickly pressed it and stood back as the elevator went into motion.

"You know, my power lets me know particular details about a person's power." Tick Tock said through the elevator speakers. "The specifics of it. For instance, your power was supposed to be a general reality warping technique until the power pulled information about anime from your mind and decided to go with that. And thus, the Tsundere we know and love was born." I heard him chuckle on the other end and I curled my fingers up into fists.

"I bring this up because I found something peculiar about Queen's power." Tick Tock paused for a moment. "People have assumed that her power rewrites her mind a bit to make her produce things like she is at war. Makes thing fast, cheap, and efficiently. But it actually isn't true, that is a choice on Queen's part. A bit of her insanity shining through. That was interesting in it of itself for a variety of reasons, but I found another interesting tidbit. You see, most Tinkers see their end result and have to muddle their way through all the technical details to find how to achieve that end result. Not Queen though, she sees every step, instantly. Every thing she'll need and exactly what she'll need for it. But she needs something else too.

"Something to siege." Tick Tock stated with a little laugh. "You see, if you propose a scenario to Queen she will tell you exactly what she'll need to siege it. It even works on hypothetical places too. Go ahead Queen, tell me what we'll need to siege Hogwarts castle." Queen's voice came on the speak system next.

"One battleship, twelve tanks, a dozen planes for round the clock bombing. Siege towers and battering rams…" Her voice trailed off in a daze. The microphone shifted on the other end so I could hear Tick Tock sighing into it.

"Of course, it's not an exact science. You have to give her time, material parameters, and as much knowledge of the place as possible. Changing any of these will change the answer. But the funny thing is there is always an answer. She once told me she could siege the White House with only a Model-T! Isn't that hilarious?"

The elevator jerked to a stop and the doors slid open in front of me. Tick Tock's voice on the speakers clicked off, throwing the room into silence. With a deep breath, I stepped out into the room.

It was a casino. A polished wooden bar stood in the middle of the room, colored drinks rising up to the ceiling. Dozens of tables with green felt and playing cards on them. Roulette wheels with the silver ball in the number twelve slot on every single one of them. Then I heard Tick Tock's chuckling. I turned and saw him standing next to a window with the blinds closed. Queen was next to him.

She was still naked, only now she was strapped into some sort of metal frame the bent her over and spread her legs slightly. It wasn't a flattering position.

"What is happening Tick Tock?" I asked him angrily. He smiled and raised his hands defensively.

"Why, nothing at all." He walked around me slowly and made his way to the bar. "A drink?" He asked me. I stared at him sternly without answering. He shrugged.

"Suit yourself." He reached down into the bar and pulled out a bottle and began pouring himself a drink.

"Why am I here?" I demanded. He glanced up at me before finishing pouring the drink and saying,

"Well, I assume it is to save Queen of course."

"You know what I mean."

Tick Tock took a sip and sighed. "Why, yes I suppose I do. You see, as I said the other night, I made a mistake." He grabbed his glass and started walking around me. "The mistake has to do with Queen's trigger event. Would you like to hear it?" I didn't know how to answer that, so I didn't respond with anything. Tick Tock rolled his eyes and said,

"You know, this would be so much better if you could just go along with it. Nevertheless, I'll tell you anyway because it is important.

"Queen here was about twelve years old when her mother died. Her father became an alcoholic with a few too many friends. For two years he beat her, starved her, neglecting her and the like. Even burned her a few times." Tick Tock pointed to three places in her back. Unwillingly, I shifted myself to see them.

Three circular burn marks from cigarettes. Despicable.

"Then when dearest Queen of the Castle was fourteen her father and eight of his friends had a little too much to drink and thought, 'Hey, you know, it would be funny if we stripped this poor little girl naked and tied her up'. And I suppose you can guess how the rest of that song and dance goes. Luck for me though, as I think I finally found someone who is a worse person than I am." Tick Tock broke into a fit of giggling and then onto an obscene amount of laughter. I knelt down to Queen and brushed the hair out of her eyes while attempting not to think about what Tick Tock was saying.

"But the story doesn't end there." Tick Tock continued. "You see, even through all the previous abuse she still had this naivety and love for her father that only a child could have. She trusted him, and then that night happened. The way he defiled her… Not good. In fact, it was so bad that it drove her insane! And it was the stress of her own insanity that caused her to trigger! Isn't that funny? It wasn't the gang rape that triggered her, but her insanity! It's almost too good!" I rose up off the ground and found a transformation in my grasp. It was dark, dangerous. I didn't touch it for the moment.

"What. Did. You. Do?" I asked slowly, drawing out every word dangerously. Tick Tock looked at me with some mild amusement.

"Nothing. Yet." He answered. "I mean, I'm not a good guy, but I am no monster." Tick Tock took another sip from his glass. "But you see, that is where I made my mistake and why I'm in such a bind right now. You see, Queen and Troll are both mental victims. Which means I can't physically harm either of them. Not that I would in Queen's case. But I can humiliate her, walk her down the streets naked. Tie her up and put her in the same position she was back then. And about a dozen other things I had planned out, but I missed a crucial part.

"Her insanity." Tick Tock said with a smile. "It was designed to let her escape that trauma, and I failed to recognize it would do the same to me. Forcing me to push Queen back to near the end of this list instead of the beginning. Which is why you are here right now, Tsundere." I froze. Slowly, I asked.

"What does that mean?"

Tick Tock grinned sadistically.

"You see, Queen can't experience that trauma because of her insanity. But if she were to see someone else, someone she cares about, go through this torture, she would have to watch it happen and then she would feel it."

Queen's head suddenly snapped up from where she was tied up. The cloudy look was gone from her eyes and she looked at me. Her face said it all.

"Look who woke up and joined the party!" Tick Tock cheered excitedly. He skipped over to Queen and ruffled her hair in the same fashion I might have. Tick Tock looked back at me with a grin.

"Now, I'll make this simple. I'll let both you and Queen go, let you walk right out that door, even tell you where I'm holding Troll. And the only thing I require of you to make it happen is for you to do everything I say until the heroes disarm the bombs and come after me. Do we have a deal?"

"Don't do it Tsundere!" Queen screamed. She struggled against her restraints and cried a little. I saw a tear roll down her cheek as she pulled and I saw little burn marks around her wrists from where they rubbed agaist her restraints.

"I'll do it," I said, keeping my face a stone mask.

"No!"

"Yes!" Tick Tock cheered, his face lighting up. "Now, take all your clothes off and flick them across the room." Without responding, I reached down and took off my katanas, setting them gently on the ground next to me. As a reached for the sash around my kimono Queen let out a whimper. Tick Tock just stared at me grinning.

I pulled off the sash and opened my kimono revealing my underwear, a red bra and blue panties. I didn't think about matching them today. I shrugged off my kimono and balled it up before throwing it across the room at Tick Tock. He batted it away idly and continue to watch me with his sick smile.

As I reached up and undid the clasp on my bra I couldn't help but think I wasn't bothered by his gaze. If he was staring at me hungrily or seductively I probably would have been bothered a little bit. But that wasn't what he was watching for. Even as my bra fell to the floor and I kicked it over to him I could feel his gaze on my face, watching for any emotion. I slid off my panties and dropped them to the floor before kicking them over to join my bra.

I looked down and saw Queen in tears now doing everything she could to not make a noise as she cried. Tick Tock chuckled.

"We're off to a good start. Now, I would like you to gag yourself with this." He held out a dirty brown rag to me. I walked forward and took it from his grasp, giving him an evil stare the entire time I tied the dirty thing around my mouth. It tasted horrible and I certainly didn't want to know why.

Tick Tock reached down and pulled out more ropes. "Now lie on your back and-" He was cut off by the sound of the elevator ding. Tick Tock made a face.

"Well, that's annoying." He stated. He straightened up and dropped the ropes. "It would appear the heroes were a little more competent than I gave them credit for. But a deal is a deal. Your katanas should be enough to cut Queens binds. I'm holding Troll at the old Undersider base where I caught you and Queen the first time around. No special rules or anything, bring whoever you want. I look forward to it." Tick Tock turned on his heels and started walking towards a rear exit into some back room when he paused and said,

"Oh yes, and I'll be taking these with me." He stooped down and picked up my panties and bra before darting out the door and disappearing again. Honestly, I wasn't sure how he had a way out of this hotel, but I knew he would have one.

The moment he was out of sight I dived for my katana, ripped off the gag, and cut the ropes that held Queen down. She collapsed on the ground in a fit of sobbing the moment she was free. I grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her up and closer to me.

"Shh, it's going to be okay now," I said soothingly. Queen threw her arms around me and began crying into my shoulder as she mumbled something unintelligible. I patted her on the back and gave her a little hug.

Now onto more pressing matters. Someone was coming up the elevator and we were both very naked.

I looked around the room, but the only piece of clothing was my discard kimono. And then it hit me; that's why he took my bra and panties. So I would have no way to cover myself up as I walked out of the room with Queen. Only one of us could wear the kimono, and he knew I'd never let it be me. The bastard's game was still going on. I pulled Queen away from me and quickly ran over to grab the kimono. It was large, like a blanket and warm. Just what Queen needs right now.

I brought it back over again and wrapped her in it before telling her it was going to be okay one more time. Lifting Queen up in my arms, I cradled her as she continued to cry. Not for the first time I was glad she was so short.

I hefted her up and walked to the elevator and stood in front of it, waiting for it to open. When the ding announcing their arrival came I took a breath and braced myself. The door opened revealing Brute, Reaper, Skitter and Panacea on the other side.

They paused for a moment before Brute walked forward and started shrugging his coat off for me. I shook my head at him and said,

"No, Tick Tock wants to embarrass me and Queen. I'm not going to let him."

"But Tsundere," Brute said. "The entire Protectorate is out there. They vill stare."

"Let them," I said angrily. "What are they going to do? Arrest me for indecent exposure? As Tsundere, the leader of The Paranorms and an internationally recognized super villain, I reserve the right to simply stop giving fucks." I stepped on the elevator without another word and pressed the floor button for them. They all shared a concerned glance for a moment.

" _I'll go pull a vehicle around to the front of the place."_ Reaper signed at me before sinking through the floor. Brute stepped back on the elevator silently and let the doors close behind him. The elevator ride down was completely silent, with Panacea being the only one to say anything and that was to ask if Queen was okay. I told her she was, perhaps a little more rudely than I intended and no one said anything the rest of the way down.

When the doors opened back up I stalked right out of it without even a moment's pause. I was committed to this now. I burst through the front door and found Alexandria and every other cape in the city waiting for me.

"Move," I growled at them as I walked forward. They parted around me like I had some sort of disease. All the better for getting Queen away from here that much quicker.

Reaper pulled up in one of Queen's armoured vehicles. A truck able to carry ten men in the back with a gun mounted on the hood of it. The Tinker made machine gun on it was a reassuring sight. The door popped open as I approached and I slid Queen inside, completely uncaring as every eye in the world look in on me. I pulled myself up into the car next her while Brute climbed into the back with Panacea, PillowMan and his sister. The door slammed shut and Reaper came out of the car, reappearing with Brute in the back, leaving me and Queen alone.

"I was scared," she whispered. I nodded and pulled her close to me.

"I know, but it's over now." I reassured her. She didn't say anything to that. But then the speakers in the vehicle clicked on and a familiar voice came on.

" _Captain Queen!"_ The AI said. " _I h-h-h-had been worried about you. You've be-zrt-z been gone for so so so so so so-tch- long I thought something bad happened."_

"Take us home." Queen whimpered.

" _And where is is is-ist- home miss Queen?"_

" _The Tower._ " I told it.

" _Aye aye captains."_ The AI said as the truck kicked into motion. Queen and I didn't say another word the rest of the way there. Just held each other.


	41. Winding Down

I put Queen in her room the moment we got back to The Tower and ran to go get dressed. I may not care all that much if people see me naked but that didn't change the fact we live in a coastal city in the Northern United States and it was cold.

I found another kimono and curse myself not for the first for giving Troll all my qipaos. This one was purple with a red sash. I quickly pulled it on and ran back to Queen's room. When I came in I found her standing in the middle of the room holding my kimono tight around her body. She was staring at the television screen silently. I walked up next to her and check to see what she was looking at. Just a boring new report on Tick Tock's latest attack, featuring a picture of me walking down the steps of the hotel naked with Queen in my arms. Of all the times for my power to make me look like an anime character…

"Hey," Queen said quietly. I turned towards her and she glanced back at me before looking back towards the screen.

"Hey, how you holding up?" I asked. She looked down a little and brought out a hand. There was a little bit of rawness from where she had pulled at the ropes.

"I'm fine." She sniffed a little and continued to look down. I placed a hand on her shoulder as gently as I could.

"I'm here, if you need to talk." I could see her biting the inside of her cheek.

"You don't have to pretend now."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What do you mean?" Queen pulled the kimono tighter around herself and continued to look down.

"You don't have to pretend you like me, now that you know I'm broken." She paused for a moment and continued. "People don't like people like me. know what happened makes me strange and people don't like it. It's not your fault I'm broken." I was taken several steps back in my thoughts as she said this. I'm not sure I could even wrap my head around it.

"Wait, Queen? Do you think what happen was your fault?" Queen's grip tightened on the kimono.

"Who's would it be? Men don't do that, my daddy never did that before. It could only be me right? Because I'm so weird. Because I'm not a normal girl."

"No." I told her. I grabbed her by the shoulders and twisted her to face me. Her large green eye stared back at me threatening to cry. "Queen," I told her. "None of that was your fault, nor could it ever be your fault in any way. It was all just a bunch of nasty, drunken men that all deserve to die." Queen stared at me for a good long moment before practically tackling me in a hug.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you for coming back for me. Thank you for staying with me." I smiled and ran a hand over the back of her head.

"Believe me, there is no place I'd rather be." Queen broke away from me and smiled up at me. I smiled back. And then she rose on her toes and kissed me.

Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda Hubbda

"TSUNDERE!" Tenant shouted at me. "SHUT UP OR I WILL SLAP YOU! I DON'T CARE IF I DON'T HAVE A BODY, I WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN!" I blinked free of the daze I was in to see Queen looking a little upset at me.

"You don't like me," she murmured. I blinked.

"Ah, Queen, I, uh, I-" I was cut off as she turned around and ran right out of the room and down the hallway.

"Queen wait!" I called after her. "Damn it." I turned and started running after her.

For once I was glad of the 3D model Tenant put together of Queen's ship because she moved fast. And that was with the thirty foot radius I was able to keep track of her with. Even then I wasn't able to keep up with her as she made ten dozen turns into her ship. Eventually she ducked inside her smithing room and locked the door behind her.

I stood staring at the door for a long moment, unsure how to do this. Hell, I wasn't even sure what I was going to say the moment I got in there. She kissed me, how was I even suppose to respond to that? I didn't even know she was into me like that, or women for that matter.

But more importantly, did I like it? Did I like her like that? Did I even like girls? I've been awake for the last twenty-four hours and had been dealing with the aftermath of Tick Tock during most of it, combined with this and I was in some sort of emotional hurricane. I couldn't think straight, I don't know what I want.

'Tenant.' I called. He popped into my vision next to me.

"Yes?"

'My mind, you know what's going on. Can you tell me how I feel about this?' Tenant considered it for a moment before saying,

"No."

I blinked.

'What do you mean 'no'? You can't tell?'

"No, I can tell I just don't want to get dragged into this. Getting involved in arguments between women where one ends up crying tops most men's list of 'things not to get involved in'."

'Let me get this straight, you don't want to tell me my own emotions because you're afraid of getting dragging into the drama? Before you answer, might I remind you that you only exist in my mind!'

Tenant shook his head. "Never underestimate woman's ability to drag you into things. I'm going to sit out on this one, figure at your own feelings."

'Fuck you.' I took a deep breath and looked up at the door.

"AI, open the door."

"Queen has refused-d-d you access." The AI answered.

"Queen isn't doing well!" I protested. "I need to get in there and help her."

"Q-Q-Q-Queen has not reported any p-p-zrts-physical injuries. She i-i-i-is fine."

"Does she sound fine?" I asked. There was a pause. "Look in, does she look or sound fine at all to you?"

"No."

"Alright, now is there anything in your programming that would help her?" Another pause.

"No."

"Then you need to let me in so I can help her!" The AI didn't responded for a long moment and just when I thought this was a lost cause, the door clicked open.

The smithing room was hot, unsurprisingly now that I think about it. The room itself was about half as large as the cafeteria we ate in, and this ship was bigger than The Spire. A massive oven stood on one side of the room with a bright red glow coming from it core, casting the whole room with the light. The walls of the room were covered in cork boards that Queen had pinned sketches to. Mechs, bombs, planes, ships, guns, and cannons dotted every surface on them and all of them looked to be about ten times more advanced than the normal stuff Queen produced.

On the other side of the room were tables lining each wall, each table completely covered in various part and components that I couldn't even begin to comprehend even if it were explained to me. But I'll be damned if my second mind and Tenant weren't going to try.

The only clear table in the room was the one sitting in the center of a dozen other tables on the one side of the room. It also happened to be the table where Queen was angrily twisting a screwdriver into a device that looked like it should be handled with more care.

"AI," Queen commanded. "Prepare five grams of gold for casting." The AI didn't respond but the oven began to move and make noises. Queen stood up from her desk and walked over to it, completely ignoring the fact I was here.

A narrow half pipe extended from the oven and a small stream of liquid gold began pouring out it. Queen collected it in a strange cup held buy a pair of tongs and brought it over to her desk.

"Queen…" I tried lamely.

"I'm trying to make a pressurized time cannon Tsu, leave me alone." I didn't even want to ask how one 'pressurized' time. But that was beside the point.

I waited until Queen had finished pouring the gold into her contraption before I tried to talk to her again.

"Queen, we need to talk about this."

"We've talked enough," Queen snapped at me. She dropped the cup and tongs on the table to look at me. "You don't like me, like everyone else. It's all the same, Queen is dangerous, Queen is weird. Well Queen just wants to work on her cannons!" She turned away and started looking through the various components laying out on the tables around her.

"Queen, I never said I didn't like you." I said slowly, picking my words carefully. "You just…"

"I just what?" Queen said, whirling around on me. She sounded angry, and maybe she was right for it, but she didn't look it. She just looked hurt. Tired, betray, and hurt.

"You surprised me." I finished, taking a step in her direction. Queen tensed but I kept walking towards her. "Look, I just wasn't expecting you to kiss me was all. It kind of came out of nowhere." As I drew closer Queen looked down and away.

"But you didn't like it…" She mumbled.

"I don't know what I like Queen." I told her. I reached out and took her hand. "I don't know if this is going to work out, or if this is such a good idea at all. Hell, I am still not completely sure I swing that way, but I willing to give it a try. For you Queen, because it makes you happy."

She looked up at me with her big green eyes. "You mean it?"

"Of course." Suddenly, Queen kissed me again. I was still a little surprised at the suddenness of it, but I quickly leaned into it to match her.

Her lips tasted like syrup.

When we broke apart again Queen smiled at me. The way she did complete personality flips on a dime had never been more cute.

"Can we do that again?" She giggled. I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, but only one more time. We still have to go save Troll." Queen pressed her lips against mine again. Maybe I was enjoying this.

***

Troll wasn't having what he would call a great day. He was strapped down to a table, his arms and legs bound so tight he could only move his head. About five feet away from him Tick Tock was standing in front of a mirror. He was smiling, like he always was, and trying on different hats.

"Hm, what do you think Troll?" He asked, spinning around to reveal he was wearing a green top hat with Roman numerals going around the base. "It's definitely my color, and top hats are cool right?"

Troll rolled his eyes at him. "I think it's a little too Mad Hatter for someone who is clearly the rabbit." He answered dryly. Tick Tock chuckled at that.

"Perhaps you're right, but I think I'll keep the hat anyway. A man needs a good defining trait." Tick Tock skipped over to Troll and pulled up a bar stood to sit next to him. "Your friends should be crashing the party here soon so I think it's time we had a chat."

Troll narrowed his eyes at him. "Is now the part where you mentally torture me? Because you're not off to a great start." Tick Tock chuckled some more.

"Now, what could I do to torture you that your power doesn't do a hundred times better?" Tick Tock grinned at him as Troll fell silent. "You see, that is funny. Tell me this, when you fell down that well and you tried for hours to climb out, calling and screaming the entire time, do you think no one heard you or they just didn't care?" Tick Tock studied his face for a long moment before laughing and getting up to pace around him.

"Your trigger event is really perfect isn't it? You fell inside of a well, which is not all that spectacular at first glance, but then you think about it." Tick Tock grinned evilly. "For hours you called for help, you tried to climb out, you fought to stay afloat over and over again. Each time you tried to get back up, to climb back out you always ended up falling again, and again, and again. That was, until you eventually drowned." Tick Tock giggled a little as he move to the other side of Troll. "And that is why your power is so perfect for you, because whenever you're feeling trapped, whenever you keep getting back up only to get shot down again, your power grows and lets you respawn even further until you are safe. The perfect way to never get captured. I don't even think they could keep you inside the Birdcage because of that." Troll glared at him without saying anything. But Tick Tock managed to keep going just fine.

"And after that you had a long suicidal spree, finding new and inventive ways to kill yourself hoping something would stick. It never did though, obviously. And you've moved past it since then, but it still eats at you doesn't it? The fact that you may never be able to die, that everyone, even Tsundere and Brute, are going to grow old and die without you while you'll just keep respawning until this world turns to dust.

"But what if I told you it weren't true?" Tick Tock asked suddenly. Troll continued to glare at him, not trusting himself to speak. "You see, I know things about people's powers. Details that no else could ever know. And I know about yours." Tick Tock had moved to the foot end of the table and was casually wiggling Troll's foot back and forth as he waited for an answer. Troll lifted his head up as far as it would go and glared into his face.

"Tell me." Tick Tock grinned in response and started pacing again.

"Much like Tsundere's anime effect of her power, your power wasn't meant to be video game themed. That came from your mind, and you are much better for it. You actually power isn't necessarily respawning, but rather something else. Your power picked a place and time in the future where you'll die. And only when you are in this place at this specific place in time can you possibly die." Troll stared at Tick Tock for a moment. Tick Tock flashed an even wider grin at him.

"Not so nice, is it?" Tick Tock asked. He started walking up to Troll, getting close to his face. "Knowing that some place in the future as picked for you to die, with no way of knowing how or when. Just one day, poof, your gone. It might be enough to drive a man insane." Tick Tock was now hovering over Troll's face, just inches away from him with the horrible smile he always wore right there with him. Troll wasn't smiling.

"Tell me, Tick Tock," Troll said dangerously. "Do you like bananas?" Tick Tock blinked, a little taken aback.

"Well, no I can't say I do."

"Well that's good." Troll told him. "Because you ain't going to find no bananas on THE MOOOOOOOOOOON BEYETCHHHH!" At that moment Troll leaned forward and reached into his inventory with his teeth. When he came back out he had a gun in his mouth, one specifically made to be held in his teeth. A second later he pulled the trigger with his tongue.

Tick Tock crumpled to the floor oddly silent as the bullet impacted his shoulder. Troll fired the gun two more times before he shot through his restraint and his left hand. A moment later Troll had undone his other restraints and climbed off the table. Tick Tock chuckled as he applied pressure to his wound.

"Laugh at this asshole." Troll said before kicking him in the face. Tick Tock went sprawling across the ground, laughing darkly the whole way. Troll held his left hand tightly where it was bleeding and approached Tick Tock.

"You say it might drive me crazy," Troll stated. As Tick Tock attempted to pull himself up off the floor again Troll kicked him in the gut, sending him sprawling again. Tick Tock wheezed as the wind was kicked out of him, only to start laughing again a moment later.

"You even act like you are insane." Troll said just before he kicked Tick Tock again as he continued to try to stand up.

"But that isn't insanity." Troll said. Tick Tock never stopped laughing as this happened. He had got to his knees when Troll kicked him back down again.

"You want to know what real insanity is?" Troll asked him as he continued to attempt to rise. "It is trying to do the same thing over." He kicked him back down. "And over." He kicked him again. "And over again expecting a different result each time!" He paused and let Tick Tock attempt to rise again, only to get kicked back down by Troll. Tick Tock chuckled into the floor of the room. Once again he attempted to rise and got kicked down again.

At that moment the door burst open and the other Paranorms entered the room.

***

I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I kicked in the door of the room, but it wasn't Troll completely free and continuously kicking Tick Tock everytime he tried to rise up off the floor. But I'll take what I can get.

"What's going on?" I asked Troll as I walked up next to him.

"It's done, Tick Tock is a dead man." Troll growled at him. Tick Tock looked up and chuckled.

"I think I really got to him," Tick Tock told me with a light smile. I frowned at him.

"So what is it you have in store? What's the trick? The backup plan?" Tick Tock rose to his feet and straightened his top hat.

"There isn't one." Tick Tock said. "Like I told you, it is all over today. Just do me a favour and use explosives when you kill me. I always wanted to go out with a bang." I frowned harder at him. In a moment I unsheathed my katana and cut off his left hand before kicking him in the chest. Tick Tock fell to the ground with a groan that still managed to turn into a laugh. I turned around and looked at the others.

"Queen?" I asked.

"The building is completely surrounded with my machines!" She said cheerfully.

"Reaper?"

He floated up out of the ground and signed to me. "No bombs or any other devices in the building." I nodded and look at Brute.

"Break his legs," I ordered. Brute nodded and cracked his knuckles. I turned around and saw that Troll had taken out a pair of handcuffs and attached Tick Tock to the metal pipe on the wall. Tick Tock stared at me with a light smile on his face. He didn't even flinch when Brute stepped on his ankles and crushed them beneath his foot.

"I don't get it," I told Tick Tock. "All this, all the pain and suffering you caused. All the planning you put into this and you just give yourself up? What are you playing at?"

Tick Tock laughed darkly. "Don't you get it Tsundere? This is exactly what I wanted to happen."

"Bullshit." I spat at him. Tick Tock shook his head.

"You really think I didn't know about the mouth gun Troll had? After all, it was the very first custom weapon Troll ever made. Wasn't it Troll?" I glanced over at him, asking him silently. He nodded stiffly.

"So why?" I asked again. Tick Tock started laughing.

"You still haven't noticed, have you? How stupid can you be?"

"What?" I asked, my voice rising. I was getting really tired of this. Tick Tock stopped laughing and looked at me with a satisfied grin.

"The one thing no one questioned, the one thing no one ever needed to question. Everyone accepted it as fact and never thought twice about it. Not even Tattletale."

"What is it Tick Tock? Enough games!"

"How many victims Tsundere?" Tick Tock shout at me, pulling against the handcuffs to lean towards me. A maniac smile plaster across his face. "How many victims do I make?"

"Twelve." I answered with thinking about it. It was so simple, it was the one thing we always knew since the beginning. Tick Tock leaned back.

"Then why are there only eleven?" My eyes widened as I quickly ran back through the numbers in my mind. Glory Girl, Panacea, Brute, Genesis, Clockblocker, Kid Win, Assault, Battery, Imp, Queen, and Troll. Eleven people, not twelve.

"You already know I planned to get stopped here." Tick Tock said darkly. "And you know it would have been just as easy to take the twelfth person the same night I took Queen and Troll. And now you know that my twelfth victim is still yet to come." Tick Tock's grin widened massively. Then he spoke slowly, making sure I caught every word.

"Four years from now on the same day I die, I will be taking my twelfth victim from Brockton Bay. And you know why Tsundere?"

I grit my teeth. "Why?"

"Because the world ends in four years, and I know how it happens."


	42. Finally Done Ticking

"Six years ago I was doing my normal thing, torturing people in ways specific to them. Then one day, I cause a man to trigger and become a precog with a particular loophole that let him see how it all comes to an end. On that day I learned that Scion would destroy the world in eight years, and I started preparing for it.

"For the last six years, I have traveled around the world creating my victims, making them realize their worst fear. Giving them the truly worst experience of their lives because it would make them stronger. And I guarantee you, that when Scion comes and people are losing hope, every last cape that I ever attacked will fight him until the end. That I made them so strong that not even this impossible fight could kill their spirit.

"But even with all this preparation, no matter what I did, what I could do, the end of the world was always on schedule. I could never push it back any further. But then, this year not so long ago, I learned that instead of the end coming in two years, it's coming in four. Someone changed it. So I started looking into the cause, trying to find who it was that gave us two extra years of life. And wouldn't you know, I found you Tsundere. You and the other Paranorms at the heart of this storm. And so I came here." Tick Tock grinned.

"Scion," I said disbelievingly. It was… impossible to think about. I never gave the golden man much attention, in fact, I thought he was kind of a prick. But if anyone could destroy the world, it would be him. I just couldn't believe that the man who never did anything but help people would start destroying the world. Or maybe I didn't want to believe it.

"It's the latter." Tenant supplied. I elected to ignore him.

"How can we fight that?" I asked. "How is there any way to win?" Tick Tock grinned. He was beginning to look pale from blood loss.

"Because of what I have done here today. Because of me, enemies will become allies. Allies will become lovers. Lovers will become… Well, I'm sure something happens to them too but you get the point. After today, this world is one step closer to being ready for Scion when he comes. And in four years when I take my twelfth victim, the world will be saved." I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head as if that would make everything come back together and make sense.

"We need to tell people, let everyone get prepared."

"Oh no no no!" Tick Tock said quickly. "You can't tell a soul outside of this room. If this secret gets out then people will lose their will to fight before it even begins. The people of this world are cowards, and if they know what is coming they will make sure their assets and scores are settled before the end occurs. The world will go into chaos, it's better they are surprised. That way they come together when they need to in some ill thought out knee jerk reaction. Which is why I'm telling you because you are the only people in this world that needs the time to prepare."

I grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him up to my face. "How?" I demanded. "How do we prepare, what do we do?"

Tick Tock shrugged. "I don't know, it's up to you. There are plenty of threats in this world that would make it a better place if you killed them. Sleeper, Nidhogg, Endbringers, and so much more. I leave it up to you, after all you already pushed the end back two years without even trying. Think of what you could do now. Now, if you excuse me, it is my time to die." I wanted to protest, tell him he is coming with us to help us stop the end of the world. But I knew it was no use. I couldn't sleep at night knowing he was around, not even if he was locked up tight. I couldn't subjugate Queen and Troll to that. And the Protectorate wouldn't house him or even tolerate us having him. There was only one thing to do.

Kill him and start thinking about the end of the world.

Slowly, I let go of his shirt and set him back down. I turned and found everyone staring at me. I looked away and turned towards Troll.

"The charges are set." He said seriously. Probably the most serious I would ever get to see Troll.

"Strap some to his chest for good measure then let's go," I stated in a monotone voice. As I walked away I heard Tick Tock calling out to me.

"Remember Tsundere! Enemies to allies, allies to lovers! You'll know what to do when the time comes!" I didn't answer him. I walked silently out of the building, listening to him laugh to whole way out.

Once I was outside, I could still hear him laughing madly. I looked at Troll and I nodded. He pulled out the detonator and pressed the button, blowing up the building with Tick Tock inside it. As I watched the flames climb a little higher I took solance in the fact I couldn't hear him laughing anymore.

"So…" Troll began. "I'm really hungry. Is anyone else really hungry?"

***

We walked into the fast food place and people sort parted around us like we were internationally renowned super villains walking into a fast food place in full costume. I wonder what gave them that idea.

"I'd like two number nines, one large, one small," I told the cashier. "And uh, Troll what was it you wanted?"

"The number eight," he supplied.

"Alright the number eight," I told the cashier. "Brute? Jess?"

"The party bucket," Brute stated.

"I'll take a number nine too," Jess said. I nodded and told the cashier. Then I looked at Reaper, who then signed to me,

 _"Number one, no onion rings."_

I nodded and looked at the cashier. "Number one, no onion rings." The cashier swallowed and nodded his head.

"W-Will that be all?"

I thought about it for a moment. "And six milkshakes, medium." I pulled out a two hundred dollars Troll had given to me before hand and tossed it on the counter as the cashier nervously put in our order. "Keep the change," I said, taking the receipt and going to sit down. Brute wheeled Jess up to the edge of the table booth in the corner and waited for Reaper and Troll to awkwardly scoot across the long bench to make room for him. Queen and I sat down on the other side of the round table. She took my hand in her own on underneath it.

"So, you two are a thing now." Troll stated. I blinked at him.

"How did you know?"

Troll rolled his eyes. "Please, you two were hand holding and talking with each other excitedly all the way here. Not to mention you knew what Queen's order was and order the same thing. It was pretty obvious."

Brute frowned. "I did not notice." Reaper nodded in agreement and Troll just shook his head at them.

"Did you two also miss the fact that Tsundere has cuddled, supported, and held hands with Queen several times before? It was pretty obvious guys." I frowned at him.

"I didn't do that."

Troll stared at me. "Uh, yeah, you did. All the fricken time too. Queen was practically attached to you."

"I didn't really notice, I thought I was just being nice." Troll continued to stare at me as if I was some sort of alien.

"You're trying to tell me that you did not notice Queen was into you? Seriously?"

"I'm sorry," I said defensively. "I'm not exactly well versed in the art of knowing when other women are coming on to me!"

"Tsundere! You are the embodiment of anime! Sexiness is an integral part of your existence, how could you not have known!?"

"IT'S ANIME! It is a very casual sort of sexiness! All of the arousal, none of the commitment!"

"I- you know what? I'm just going to let that statement speak for itself."

"Fuck you Troll."

At that moment our food came, delivered to us by the nervous cashier from before. Queen and I took our chicken sandwiches. Reaper reached across the table and took his BBQ burger. Brute passed Jess her chicken sandwich before grabbing the large tray filled with about fifty pieces of fried chicken. His party bucket. He would eat the whole thing too, I knew. Troll got his sandwich at the same moment Miss Militia walked into the place.

"What are you all doing?" She demanded. I held up my sandwich towards her.

"Eating lunch," I said simply. She paused for a moment.

"That's it? No plans, no attack people, nothing?" I shook my head and took a sip of my milkshake.

"Want to join us?" I asked as soon as I was finished drinking it. I scooted over to make room for her. "Plenty of room." She looked at me, then at the others that were hungrily munching on their meals. Reaper had taken his mask off in public for the first time, making him the last Paranorm to lose his civilian identity for good.

"You know this isn't normal thing normal villains do right?" She asked us.

"You know, I'm really questioning the point of calling ourselves the Paranorms if everyone is still going to expect us to behave normally." Miss Militia seemed to take that in for a moment. Then, in a shocking turn of events, she sat down with us.

"I want you all to know," she began, "That you are the only super villains in the world I can sit down with for lunch without repercussions."

I smiled. "Of course, we are abnormal like that after all. Now, how are Assault and Battery doing?"

"They're going to be okay." Miss Militia said with a sigh. "Like most things Tick Tock does no serious harm was done, depending on your definition of serious." She glanced over at Troll and Queen. "I take it your business with Tick Tock is done?" I nodded to her. "Any idea where he is now?" She asked it like she was expecting me to say I didn't know anything. Which was probably more or less exactly how it would go if Tick Tock had wanted it that way. Crazy psycopath.

"He's dead," I stated before taking a bite of my sandwich. Miss Militia stared at me.

"Dead? Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Troll shot him in the shoulder, I cut off his hand, Brute crushed his ankles. Then he got handcuffed to a pipe just before we blew up him and the rest of the building. I think it's safe to say he died." Miss Militia took that in for a moment before nodding.

"I heard about an explosion recently. Didn't think that Tick Tock would have been inside it. I guess that means it's on to the next thing…"

I raised an eyebrow at her. "The next thing?" Miss Militia considered something for a moment before speaking again.

"Before I say this, I want you to know that even though I don't think you six are terrible people, you're still villains and it's my job to bring you down. I don't want to, but I have to." She took a breath and continued.

"The Protectorate has teamed up with Accord and a new group I had just been made aware of called Cauldron. Only I and a select few other know about them, and even then we aren't fully in the know. We were planning an attack that would bring you all down just before Tick Tock appeared, but Assault and Battery were part of that plan and it is going to take time to replace them. You have some time, so take my advice. Leave Brockton Bay, go traveling across the country maybe even the world. Just don't come back here."

I raised an eyebrow in surprise at her. "Are you… concerned for us?" Miss Militia glanced at the others briefly before answering.

"Technically Tsundere, neither you or Reaper have committed any crimes besides identify as a villain and associating with other villains. You have done some property damage, hurt a few gangbangers, but anything and everything else you have done have been done during truces. Brigadier, The Nine, Echidna, Tick Tock. Always during exceptions. So all in all, you haven't done anything besides look scary. That and be really annoying to many, many people in the Protectorate. Brute also has committed very little crimes despite his power and I'm more convinced that he a good person. Troll, while incredibly annoying and dangerous, he hasn't done much more than put us in bad situations and steal some things and files from us.

"Queen of the Castle though, she is very dangerous and has killed a lot of people. But now that I've seen how she and the rest of you behave with one another… She needs help and someone to rein her in when she gets crazy. I think you people are the best thing for her. So no, I don't want to see any of you separated or hurt. But if you don't leave the city, I won't have a choice and you will get hurt."

I smiled at Miss Militia. "This Cauldron, how do they contact you?"

"A woman in a suit appears out of a portal to talk, why?"

I shook my head. "Because I'm going to kick her ass, I sort of promised it a while back. So we can't leave, not until we've done that." Miss Militia sighed and rose from her seat.

"Fine, have it your way. I wish you the best, whatever that is." She turned around and left without another word.

"My milkshake is empty." Queen told me. I smiled at her.

"Then let's get you another one."

***

Later that night I stood in a dark alley with Queen by my side. She was back in her combat suit with her adorable combat skirt, adorned with all sorts of weapons to be had. I was back in a qipao, just as I liked. No one else was here, or at least, not yet.

"Well? Come on then!" I shouted at no one in particular. "You've got to be watching after today! So quit hiding and come out here!" There was a few second hesitation before anything happened. Then a portal opened up and front of us and Contessa stepped out and a man standing behind her. Someone else that was likely of equal skill to her. If I had to guess. Tenant didn't suggest it. Nope, totally my brilliant deduction.

"What do you want Tsundere?" Contessa asked. I smirked at her.

"To give you a warning, and let you bargain for us not to attack you."

Her face twitched.

"It doesn't have to go down like this." Contessa stated.

"Bargaining first then," I said smugly. Contessa made a face. I really did enjoy the fact that Queen fucked with her power.

"There doesn't have to be any fighting at all," Contessa continued. "We can send you and the other Paranorms to another Earth, even Earth Aleph if you so desire. There would be no one to stop you there, you can do as you like. All we want is for you to leave and never come back." I stared her down for a moment before saying,

"There are other Earth versions of us correct? Ones that lead completely different lives and never triggered."

"Yes," she answered.

"Tell me about them." She paused a moment before she answered. She tilted her head and studied me for a long moment.

"Riza Lien grew up in her parents bakery until she turned nineteen before she became a successful model and then later actress. When she was twenty-five she married the popular music artist Alexander Blane and lived until Alexander died of cancer at seventy-three and Riza one month later at seventy-three as well. They had one daughter together named Miza, named after Riza's sister.

"Adam Jacobson, the one you know as Brute, lived a normal life and became an accountant at a law firm. He at forty-five he failed in an attempt to commit suicide and that was when he met the nurse that would later become his wife, Amber Rose.

"Eliza Smith, or Queen of the Castle, grew up in a loving family and later became the personal assistant of the CEO of a company the specialized in making toys. She would then marry the CEO and become the happy wife to Charles Dutch. Her husband dies in a car crash at fifty and she raises her three children by herself until she dies at seventy-two." Contessa stopped and I frowned at her.

"What about Troll?"

"I don't see how this relates to the situation at hand."

"Tell me about Troll." I demanded. Contessa took a frustrated breath, but continued anyway.

"Private Thomas Green drowns in Iraq at the age of nineteen."

"Now," I said, "Tell me, how much of that sounds like something The Paranorms would do."

"None of it."

"Exactly," I answered curtly. "Because it isn't us and we won't live any life besides the one we are living now. So take your offers and throw them away, because we're not taking them."

"You are starting a war." Contessa stated angrily. "A war you can not win."

"Really? Because I recall I already beat you once and the Protectorate several times, not to mention Tick Tock just a few hours ago."

"We stalemated once," Contessa corrected. "And only because I failed to compensate for a weakness I was unaware of." Her gaze settled on Queen. "I won't make the same mistake twice." We fell silent after that. Eventually, I said,

"Last time we met, I gave you a message. Do you remember what it was?" Contessa made a face and nodded stiffly. I smiled a little. "Good, because I want you to remember that. And in this upcoming war you're going to attempt, I'm going make good on that promise. Because you are going to lose, and I am going to make it hurt." I turned on my heels and walked away, Queen right beside me the entire way.

AN: The power that count Troll's kills went from 14 to 15 when he set off the bombs.


	43. Sun Dial

I woke up in Queen's bed, with her curled up in a ball next to me. Queen invited me to stay in the same bed as her and I didn't argue. Honestly I was still a little confused about things in regards to her. If it had been a normal relationship there would have been an adjustment period. Dates, moving in, long talks, and other things couples do. With Queen it was just all really suddenly, going from zero to sixty in five point two. One day I we're friends and the next I have kind of sort of moved in with her? I'm not even sure if that is the correct term as we already sort of lived on her ship. Now I just slept in the same bed, which also wasn't a first time thing either. But I suppose I'm the last one that should care about normal relationships.

Instead, I decided to focus on kissing her. If I could decide on how I felt about that it would be easy to figure out the rest of this. Only when I kissed her I didn't know if I felt anything. I was confused, for the most part, and maybe just a little turned on. But I wasn't… excited? Happy? Whatever people in relationships feel. Damn it, I was really regretting turning down everyone who ever asked me out on a date before. Some experience would have been helpful here.

All I knew right now was that I didn't dislike it, and I suppose that meant there was hope.

I climbed out of bed and found some clothing before making a beeline to the shower. I noticed Queen had a little black mark she had put on the shower handle that lined up with another black mark on the base. If the two marks were lined up the water that would come out would be the perfect temperature. I gave the handle a turn to the mark and gave the water a minute to get warm while I got undressed.

I stripped off my clothes and gave myself a look in the mirror. The real me, without the anime stuff altering my appearance. I was a little worse for wear. I was covered in bruises, cuts, and burns that didn't effect my anime form but stuck with my real body. I had spent so much time in my other form recently I had started to neglect some things. My nails were long, my hair was in desperate need of a cut, and I haven't relaxed and had any sort of really unnecessary beauty stuff done. Going to the spa or getting my nails done sounded like a world away. And as I looked in the mirror I could see just how much had happened over the recent months.

The Undersiders, Brigadier, The Paranorms, The Echidna, Tick Tock, Queen and I. And how much of that was for any purpose except self defense? I mean, sure, technically we still had territory in the city, but we never used it for anything at all. We don't need to. We have enough power already, and with Queen's ships we could stick to ourselves. We could easily just take money from anyone if we really wanted it. Quite honestly, the day Queen, Troll, and I struck out to become our own team, we no longer needed to stay in Brockton Bay. There just wasn't any reason to leave.

But now I know. Know that Scion is coming for us in four years. Tick Tock seemed to suggest that we could do something about it, that we had some special part we played. Even suggested taking down some of the larger threats in our world to help make us more prepared.

"Enemies to allies, allies to lovers."

I closed my eyes and shook my head before moving away from the mirror and stepping in the shower, letting the warm water wash over my skin with a pleasant sensation. I wasn't going to dwell on this. If I had a decision I would make in the spur of the moment as a Paranorm, not something thought out far in the future like every other hero and villain out there. If Tick Tock saw something in us that made us able to do what no else could, that would be it. Being a Paranorm.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. I frowned and stepped out of the shower, water dripping on the carpet place mat. I grabbed a towel and wrapped in around myself and walked towards the door without shutting the shower off. When I got to it I opened it to find Queen standing outside, looking profoundly uncomfortable.

"Hey, Tsu." Queen said awkwardly. She looked down at the ground and shifted nervously. "I just, um, want to know…" She trailed off and I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Know what?"

"If I could… you know, join you." She blushed a little as she finished the thought. I blinked at her.

"In the… shower?" I asked, just to clarify. Queen didn't answer, just blushed a little deeper. I considered that for a moment. After a long moment of contemplation I decided I couldn't find any reason to say no. So I opened up the door and let her in with a smile. Queen's eyes widened at me and stood there frozen. I gestured with my head and that spurred her into motion.

Once she came inside I shut and locked the door behind her before striding back over to the shower. I pulled off my towel and hung it back up to use when I was finished and pulled back the curtain to get in the water again.

I turned to see Queen staring at me with her big round eyes.

"It's alright, the water's fine." I told her. She nodded silently and reach up and began unzipping her black and pink onesie. I probably shouldn't have, but I found myself staring at her as she climbed out of it. Her body was toned from all the running and exercise she did, but her belly was so thin I could see her ribs every time she took a breath. On her back I saw the cigarette burns I noticed yesterday. Seeing her in full… it reminded me that the sweet, quirky, and energetic Queen was just how she was on the surface. And everything she was underneath was built on a foundation of a dead mother, an abusive father, and two years of loneliness and being hunted by the Protectorate and Brigadier.

Queen had frozen again, her hands hovering over the clasps of her pink bra. She did better than me, she matched. Queen glanced up at me. I could see concern spread across her face.

"Queen," I said, "You don't have to do this you know."

She shook her head. "This is what couples do. That's what we are right?" I sighed sadly and stepped out of the shower again, not even caring about the water dripping off of me and all over the floor. I reached out and grabbed Queen's arm, pulling her hand towards me. I grabbed her hands in both of mine and looked her in the eyes.

"We are. But couples do whatever each of them are comfortable with. And if you don't really want to do this, you don't have to. It doesn't change anything." Queen slowly took a breath and swallowed.

"I do, I just… I just don't like being naked with other people."

"Queen, this is me. And you know I would rather murder every last person in this city than let any harm come to you." The bad thing was, I don't think I was lying. And that is why I am a villain.

"You mean it?" She asked me quietly. Instead of answering, this time I moved in and kissed her.

This time I felt something.

When we broke apart Queen was smiling again. A reassuring sight.

"Come on," I said, pulling her towards the shower. Queen's smile widened and she reached up and undid the clasp on her bra, letting it fall to the floor. She kicked off her panties and joined me in the shower.

And hour later and the six of us were sitting at a round table on the open deck of _The Tower._ Actually, seven if you counted Tenant hovering in my vision. Though, I'm not sure Jess counted anymore as from what I hear she isn't actually a cape any more. Retirement I think she called it. Nevertheless, she was here and she was a Paranorms, active or not.

"Alright!" I said with enthusiasm. "No more stumbling around and doing whatever comes to my mind first! It's time we all got on the same page and came up with a legitimate plan."

"Ooo," Troll said with a grin. "Tsundere is actually going to lead the team for once. This ought to be fun."

"First and foremost, fuck you Troll." I said without even looking at him.

"He has a point you know." Tenant added.

"Not helping Tenant."

"Tsundere," Brute chided. "If you talk to man in head, then tell us what was said, yaes."

I waved my hand dismissively. "He's just being useless." I refocused and cracked my knuckles to get everyone attention. "Alright, we aren't just picking a fight with the Protectorate here. We are also fighting a group called Cauldron and Accord. So we need to share everything we can about them. Troll?" I asked, getting his attention away from… I think it was a porn magazine, but I wasn't sure.

"Hmm?"

"When Contessa came for Queen the first time, you asked if she was in a suit as if you knew her. Anything you want to share?"

Troll smirked. "Oh yeah, that. Cauldron has a habit of rounding up people they think is too dangerous. They took me a few years back, but I ended up arming every other prisoner they had and then shortly learning after that no matter what universe I die in, I always respawn in this one."

"They have several universes in their pocket?" I asked, a little disbelievingly. Troll nodded.

"They have a whole base that stretches across several, a really confusing place to get lost in and I didn't have much time to explore while I was there."

"I also know something," Jess said on the other side of the round table. I looked at her and prompted her to speak. "They make powers, serums to be drank that would grant the person who drink them powers. It's how I got mine."

I nodded. "Good to know, we can probably use that against them but that's more of Tattletale thing. What about Accord?"

"He hates chaos." Troll supplied. I smiled.

"Queen, you're in charge if he shows up."

"Yay!" Queen cheered, pumping a fist into the air.

"Which just leaves the Protectorate." I said.

"We know them," Brute said. "You hurt them, they walk away. They only want to feel like they on top."

I nodded. "Duly noted, but we can't let them feel like they're on top. Queen? What would you need to siege the Protectorate headquarters?" Queen shrugged.

"I could do it now, three battleships. But I don't have a lot of flying things any more, but still got lots of subs. Scourges are picking up lots of debris off the bottom of the bay from the previous fights. Could have a full fleet ready to go soon, but I'm putting a lot of time into Project Axel." Everyone turned and gave Queen a serious look.

"Project Axel?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, you know, the one you told me to try. Where I spend a lot of time on one thing. I'm making four ships, biggest yet with all my best weapons and armour. Should be finished by next year, but I still need new stuffs. Better weapons, better armour, better-"

"Alright, you work on that." I said, cutting her off. Brute shook his head at me.

"We can't attack the headquarters, it's going too far."

I shook my head. They were coming after us, it only made sense that we went after them the same way. But I could convince him later, for now I'll just have to agree. "Of course, it was just a question. Now, there is one more thing I need to ask you guys." I leaned forward on the table to get their attentions. The stared at me back ready for something serious.

"What do we do after this?" They blinked and looked at each other.

"What do you mean?" Jess asked me. I quirked my lips and moved away from the table. I turned and looked at Brockton Bay behind me.

"I don't know about you guys, but I don't think there is any reason for us to stay in this city. I don't care about owning territory or anything like that. And our presence here is only causing more and more problems for Skitter and the others. After we finish kicking these people in the dick, I was thinking we leave. Go find funner things elsewhere."

"Funner isn't a word." Tenant said boredly.

'Really Tenant? Really? Are you so bored the only commentary is correcting on slightly improper grammar?' He shrugged.

"Someone has to do it."

"So the question remains," I continued as if nothing has happened. "Where do we go from here? There are thousands of things to do, and there is that whole bit with Scion happening in four years. Might want to plan for that a bit."

"Well," Troll pondered, "there are about seven thousand federally insured banks in America. If we hit four banks a day we could probably get every single one in four years."

"Alright," I said, "That's a start. Any other ideas?"

 _"I wouldn't mind taking a crack at the Nidhogg."_ Reaper signed at me.

"Reaper thinks we should go after Nidhogg."

Jess nodded critically and said, "Yes, he makes an interesting point with that. We're in an interesting position with having more power than much of the Protectorate and we don't have a lot of rules holding us back. We could help a lot of people killing some of the S class threats around the world. Like Sleeper."

"I'll add it to the list." I said cheerfully.

"Ooo, ooo, pick me!" Queen said as she bounced up and down in her seat with her hair raised. I pointed at her. "I need special weapons grade weapons from different protected government buildings. I don't currently have what I need to make weapons grade plutonium."

"I'll… put that down as a possibility." I told her cautiously. I was all too aware of the severely alarmed looked everyone was giving Queen. "How about you Brute? You haven't said anything." Brute leaned back and stroked his chin.

"There is Yàngbǎn, yaes. Bad, communist. Should kill them, yaes." I grinned.

"Killing communists, what could be better?"

"We should kill Ziz." Tenant said. I raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged. "Ziz has the least amount of physical strength of any Endbringer and if Brute were to kill her we could safely say there wouldn't be any easy way to beat him at that point. And Queen's ability the screw over Thinker powers might protect us from her and prevent her from seeing Queen's movements. We stand a better chance than anyone else."

"Okay, Tenant thinks we should kill the Simurgh." That dropped a silence over the group. Except for Queen, who seemed rather excited by the idea. Well, at least one of us was having fun.

"We should keep it on table." Brute said carefully. I nodded.

"Alright, anything else before we go do this?"

"We should raid the Hasbro headquarters and take over the company." Troll said seriously.

"Troll, what even is Hasbro?" He opened his mouth and stopped. Then he opened it again and said,

"Can I tell you after you agree to raid it?"

"No." I told him flatly.

"Well, then I guess you'll never know then." Troll crossed his arms and turned around in over dramatic acting that would put the worst comedy actors to shame. I rolled my eyes.

"Then, if that's it, we should get on to attack the Protectorate. Any ideas?" Reaper raised his hand and stood up. He pulled out a cell phone and plunged his hand into it. The small device fell under his control with just the hand and the screen turned on. When Reaper found what he wanted the screen focused. It took me a moment to realize what I was seeing was Taylor, getting her identity reveal to the world.

"We should have gone to help her," Brute told me. We were waiting in an alley, the standard meeting place for villains these days. I glanced back at him, he was pacing back and forth. He was on edge about something. It couldn't be this situation, as we saw Taylor escape the Protectorate at the school hours ago. I wonder what it is.

"She didn't need it," I answered. "You saw it, she slipped away from Defiant and Dragon despite their plans and the fact they had Dinah giving them their best chances. If anything, it should serve as a reminder that Talyor is goddamn terrifying."

"We still should have been there," Brute snapped. "Protectorate broke rules. We break Protectorate, yaes." I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Are you still protective of your last wielder?"

Brute glanced at me. "Of course I am. I chose Skitter for reason. She is good person, smart person. Dangerous person. I have never left wielder before, always there to help. I would have crush puny suits like paper, yaes. I should have been there to help." I shook my head at him.

"No, you shouldn't have been." I told him, putting on my serious face for a moment. Brute stopped and looked at me seriously. "Skitter might have been your master before, but I am now. And you place is by my side, not hers." Brute fell silent and stopped pacing. I didn't like doing that, getting serious that is. But I knew I had to, otherwise Brute would keep worrying about it for days. I took the responsibility pretty loosely, but in the end Brute did make me his wielder and sometimes that meant putting my foot down and instructing him. Even if this was a minor event, it would mean more in the future.

"Hey guys," Tattletale said as she entered the alleyway. Behind her was Skitter and Grue. I heard Tenant making a noise when he saw Skitter in the Tinker suit she had on. Her arms were completely covered in metal and extendable blades. The backpack she had on looked like a shell that would open up and release insect wings. She also had a utility belt with a few dozen different gadgets put on it.

"What's up?" I greeted. Tattletale shrugged and looked back at Grue who said,

"What's up is that the Protectorate is breaking the rules and Accord is looking to expand into Brockton Bay. Luckily Tsundere, your team has scared any other competition away from the city."

"Glad to know I could be of service." I answered with a mock bow and a silly grin. "Funny how the Protectorate did this right as we're about to wage war with them." Tattletale blinked at me.

"And why's that?" She prodded.

"Why else, because we do what we do best."

"Meaning you're a giant pain in the ass." Skitter said.

"Exactly."

She shook her head and sighed. I grinned.

"Look, Tsundere," Grue started hesitantly, "I know you have gotten used to doing things your own way but-"

"Stop right there," I interrupted with a raised hand. "We have already decided that after we give the Protectorate a bloody nose, I and the rest of The Paranorms are going to leave the city." Tattletale looked surprised by that. And judging by the others silence, they were too.

"But the only reason the PRT are going fight you is because you won't leave the city, if you're going anyway why fight?"Tattletale asked. I gave her a look and then looked at Skitter.

"Because The Paranorms won't be told what to do." Skitter answered. I smirked. Tattletale shook her head. Skitter took a step forward and said,

"Okay, then we should discuss strategy because there is now way we're letting The Protectorate get away with revealing my identity. What's your first move?" I grinned at her as I reached up and pressed on my earpiece.

"Troll, Queen, open fire." Immediately I was answered with the sound of cannon fire cracking through the air like a whip.

"You did not!" Tattletale shouted disbelievingly at me.

"Let Troll and Queen have their pirate battle? Yes, yes I did." Suddenly the cannon fire was joined by the sounds of flak guns and bombs to the point we couldn't hear each other without shouting. I grinned at the two of them and yelled,

"I have to go launch an attack on their headquarters, I'll catch you guys later." I reached out and took Brute's arm and suddenly we were in the air. As we began to fall again a Dragon suit swooped down and grabbed us out of the air. The Dragon Reaper suit made a beeline for the Protectorate Headquarters. This was going to be fun.

A/N I bet you all forgot about the pirate battle eh? I remember things, one thing I am going for a heavy attention to detail. I garentee that if you were reading Worm side by side with this as things played out you would notice more of it. Sadly though, most of it is in the subtle details. Anyway, I just wanted you all to know that the first chapter of this story was almost instatnly out done by the first chapter of my new fic because it is a My Little Pony fic. Fucking Bronies.


	44. Don't Feed the Troll

Brute crashed into the force field that surrounded the base of the local Protectorate. Being that the floating base that didn't seem that affected when the Leviathan had torn up the area, I was a little surprised when Brute smashed right through the force field. The Dragon suit Reaper had taken control of flew past and barreled face first into the missile defense system the base launched and disappeared in an explosive cloud for a moment before reemerging with the dragon wings spread wide and completely unharmed.

As Brute worked on destroying the force fields and Dragon Reaper attempted to interference with the defense systems, I leapt into the air and pulled out both katanas. Everyone should be deployed to the firefight between Troll and Queen, which meant we had a few minutes to wreak a little chaos.

I grinned as I leaned out of the helicopter we were using. My target was standing out there, clear as day. The bridge the extended between the base to the land.

"Death Spiral!" I shouted before becoming a spin projectile of death. I slammed into the bridge heading into the headquarters. My katana ripped apart the asphalt for a few feet before stopping and I landed on my feet. I switch to my bokken and quickly shouted,

"Seismic Swing!" I twirled my bokken around me for a moment before slamming both into the hole in the pavement below me sending massive cracks through the bridge.

"That should be enough," Tenant said as he brought up a blue holographic screen in front of him detailing the damage I had done to the bridge through my power. "It won't be hard to collapse now."

I smiled.

'Good, now just to wait for-' I was cut off when a familiar golden door opened up and two men stepped out. One appeared to be in a normal suit with no character traits of a cape at all. The other was in a white costume complete with an actual cape. On his chest was the black symbol of five cogs turning with each other.

"Alright," I said with a nod. "And you two are?"

"Number Man," the one in the suit said as he moved into a fighting stance.

"Ergo," the other one answered. He only wore a mask the covered his nose and eyes, leaving the smirk on his face left to be seen. I readied both bokken and bent my knees to center my mass.

"Now?" Tenant asked.

'No,' I answered. 'Third mind predictive simulation only.' Tenant nodded boredly and rolled his eyes. With a wave of his hand, he was suddenly in a large leather chair completely surrounded by holographic screens that displayed every action he was monitoring and controlling in my body.

"Approximately twenty-two minutes before the Kinetic transformation is available." Tenant told me.

'Keep me updated.' I ordered him.

"Now," I said to the two of them, "Let's get started."

I flew forward and swung both bokken at the two of them simultaneously. Ergo leaned back out of the way with inches to spare. Number Man ducked underneath and punched me in the gut, an attack I barely felt. I moved to elbow him, but he dodged that two and turned the movement of it to attempt to kick me in the face. I deflected his foot with a bokken only to have to lean back to avoid his counter.

Ergo moved in and attempted to strike with a number of quick repeated strikes with his fists. I dodge each easily. I suddenly ducked and kicked his feet out from under him with a spin which he recovered from by turning it into a cartwheel. Number Man suddenly closed the gap between us and nearly punched me square in the nose as I leaned back to avoid it. I turned the leaning into a partial backflip where I nearly kicked Number Man in the chin only to miss.

I moved back several paces and took a moment to converse with Tenant.

"Number Man has a power that lets him attack with the most effective and efficient strikes." Tenant told me as he analyzed a screen full of data. "Recommended counter, powerful strike he can't turn against you. Ergo is completely reactionary, able to recover any outright attack we make at him. Recommend letting him attack and reacting to it." I nodded said,

'Alright, it's time Tenant.'

"Full power?"

'Half.' Tenant nodded and brought a new screen in front of him. I closed my eyes.

Suddenly, my thirty-five-foot range became my way of seeing. Giving me a perfect understanding of everything in it in all directions. The silhouettes of my attackers were all I needed see and I wasn't limited by just the visible light spectrum.

"Triggering adrenalin rush in three, two, one-" I felt an immediate burst of energy and my power swelled accordingly. I burst forward before either had a moment to realize what was happening and shouted.

"Bokken Storm!" I turned into a small whirlwind of spinning bokkens, moving so fast it looked like I had twenty bokkens to the open eye. Number Man ducked and rolled out of the way before I could hit him, but Ergo took a hit to torse. I felt and heard a rib cracked.

I came out of the whirlwind only for Number Man to close the gap between us. I blocked him by crossing my bokken only for him to kick me in the gut again.

"Three broken ribs, trauma to your kidneys." Tenant said. I elected to not acknowledge that and instead lashed out and attacked Number Man with two quick slashes followed by a front flip where I brought both bokkens down in front of me with an earth-shattering crash. Number Man dodged each attack, the bridge below us didn't.

I leapt backward to a piece of the bridge I felt wasn't falling apart the ground collapsed around the two of them. Suddenly, both Ergo and Number Man started leaping across the collapsing bridge, kicking off the falling slabs of concrete and asphalt.

My third mind showed the path they would take and how it would lead directly to me so I did a massive backflip upwards and pulled out six shuriken.

"Holy Shuriken Strike!" The world went black for a moment as the white arcs of light that trailed behind the shuriken traced their path before they completely missed both. But the ninja stars did knock the rocks they were kicking off out of the air.

"Comet Smash!" I yelled, moving into a rapid front flip with both bokkens becoming supercharged with power and I plummeted toward the ground where both of my opponents had leapt to safety. The force I struck the ground with sent both Number Man and Ergo into the air and skidding across the ground, giving me an opening.

"Number Man first." Tenant stated. I agreed and turned to target him, only to sense him pointing a gun at me. I dodged each bullet he fired, but it cost me precious time. Suddenly, a new move clicked into my mind.

"Sonic Slam!" I swung my bokken at supersonic speed that instantly collided with Number Man's shoulder far beyond what he could react to and sent him rolling across the ground toward the Headquarters.

I turned to face Ergo who was pointing two machine guns at me when I noticed a notification appearing in my vision despite my eyes being completely closed.

 **Scion erased Troll.**

I smirked at Ergo as he paused at that. I decided to open my eyes and looked towards the direction I knew the battle was occurring. Scion's golden form was flying into the sky and disappearing. I then grinned even wider as I felt Brute and Dragon Reaper entering my area of effect.

"It is done." Brute stated. I opened my eyes again to chance a look backward. About half of the Protectorate base was smoking ruin. Not enough to completely destroy it, just enough that it will shock them. Perfect.

"Looks like it's just you," I told Ergo. The man smiled at me.

"Hardly." He said. Suddenly I felt Number Man spring to his feet and clamping a cloth over Brute's mouth before he collapsed to the ground. Instantly Dragon Reaper turned and released the superheated breath at him Number Man. Number Man rolled out of the way, his clothing now on fire. A portal opened up and he disappeared inside. Coward.

"It's all going according to plan," Ergo said. "Isn't that right Card Trick?"

"Correct." A voice said. I looked up to see a man in a white and purple suit with a tall white top hat floating downwards towards us. He was surrounded by a purple light that resembled flame and wore a magician cape that flapped in the wind.

"As we speak Mistwalker is capturing Troll to be delivered to Accord."

Ergo grinned at me. "And now Brute is down for at least an hour. How do you like your chances now Tsundere?" I grit my teeth.

"Queen," I said, pressing on the earpiece I was wearing.

"Busy Tsu." Queen said. I won't lie and say I wasn't a little relieved to hear her voice. "Suit woman and space warper are here. My mech is holding up though."

"Good, hold out. I'm on my way." Contessa's power was weak around Queen. I could only guess at how, but if I had to guess it didn't show her how to win against outside forces like me or Troll. Or it didn't show her anything into the future. I was less sure of the latter, but if it was the former Queen was at most risk without me there to throw her off. I needed to move.

"Reaper, can you handle this one?" I asked. Dragon Reaper took a step forward and clawed the ground.

"With pleasure." The twisted voice of the Dragon mech. Ergo shook his head.

"I'm afraid my use here ends there. I believe it's time you met the sixth member of our little entourage." I frowned right before I heard a massive bass line. Ergo moved and looked behind him at the city as a heavy guitar joined the song.

"Did someone need a Show Stopper?" I heard a booming voice. From behind the buildings of Brockton Bay, a massive light show appeared as the music blasted all around. In the center of the light show, a man flew upward and forward.

I was able to make out more of him as he came closer. He had a reflective suit and speakers mounted on his shoulders. His mask was made of led lights that blinked randomly like disco lights. I got the feeling this was going to be annoying.

"Meet Show Stopper," Ergo said as he retreated backwards. "This is going to be interesting." He noted. I glanced back at Dragon Reaper.

"I got this one," Reaper told me as he flexed his wings.

"Then I got that one," I said as I looked up towards Card Trick. He looked back down at me and reached into his coat pockets, pulling out two decks of cards.

"Two minutes until a kinetic transformation. Four minutes until the Witch transformation."

'Then we wait for the Witch, the telekinesis will be nice.' I thought at him. Tenant nodded dismissively and waved the screen away from him. He grabbed another holographic screen and asked,

"Would you like to go full power now?" I shrugged.

'Why a not?" Tenant nodded and pressed a few buttons.

"Releasing muscle restraints, slowing perception of time, increasing third brain processing speed, taking control of involuntary functions, increasing eye sensitivity, increasing power range, increasing power effectiveness, increasing ability to focus, increasing blood flow and oxygen intake, mental functions expanded for basic telepathy. Oh, that's a new one."

'I take it you never had that before?' I said. Time was moving slower around me now, giving me a moment to make a basic strategy as I felt my muscles well with power as Tenant unlocked their true potential. I had my eyes open, Card Trick was floating too far out of my range.

"Truly, and I need a connection to another person in order for this telepathy to work. Your power should give it to me, but you will have to be in range."

'Right.' I wasn't sure what bonus having some telepathy would give me, but I like it.

I pushed off the ground with enough force to crack the already damaged asphalt and flew into the air, skyrocketing towards Card Trick.

"There you are." I heard a voice in my head, Card Trick's apparently. Card Trick pointed a deck of cards at me and they glowed with purple, flame-like, light.

I suddenly found myself dodging out of the way as supercharged playing cards flew towards me. I dodged five of them before one caught me square in the chest.

It was like getting a bowling ball thrown into my chest as the card instantly exploded on impact and sent me hurtling into the ground. I grunted as my back slammed into the remains of the bridge below and shattered more of it, dropping even more construction materials into the ocean below.

"It would appear you power conflicts with mine!" Card Trick said as he descended towards me. Show Stopper's music was blaring around us as he fought with Reaper, and I was pretty sure he was singing too. I hoped Brute would wake up and punch those speakers he wore.

"And what power would that be?" I called as I leapt back to my feet. Card Trick pointed his other deck at me and I had to dart backwards to avoid a dozen cards that exploded across the ground around me.

"I turn the things I touch into projectiles." Card Trick answered simply as he flew towards me, unleashing another barrage of cards. This time I swatted them out of the air with my bokken, each one exploding into a pink mist around me.

"Lame, and already done," I told him. "It also doesn't explain how you're flying." I suddenly jumped up and swung my bokken through the air, releasing force blades that struck him and sent him flipping backward before he regained control.

"Fair enough," he answered. "I give everything I touch enough energy to propel my own body, including the air around me. Normally my cards simply cut completely through a person's body with their temporary invincibility. But it would appear you turn them into some sort of kinetic bomb. I smirked at him.

"Well, you know have it goes. Whatever is dramatic and all."

"Actually," Tenant corrected me. "You power has made your durability about or more equal to the durability he grants the cards when he launches them, causing them to break apart on contact."

'Not the point Tenant,' I chided him. 'Now, any way you can use this telepathy?'

"I'm only picking up surface thoughts. I can make a two-way communication link so long as he is in your range, but that's it." I frowned. This was going to be a long and annoying fight.

"Then let's get started," I said just as I felt the Witch transformation click into place.

Troll was getting a little tired of getting locked up. Currently, he was in a full body metal cast that didn't let him move at all. Only his head was free at the moment, and there wasn't anything he could do with that. For now anyway.

Accord strode into the room looking pleased with himself. Troll rolled his eyes, he was the only one allowed to feel smug.

"You came to gloat?" Troll asked tiredly. "Isn't that a little too villain cliche?"

"I find it important to celebrate when agents of chaos get taken down," Accord answered him.

"Don't get too excited, there are still five more of us." Troll told him.

"Five?" Another voice said. Troll craned his neck to see Miss Militia standing behind him. "I only count Brute, Queen, Reaper, and Tsundere. Genesis is nowhere to be found." Troll chuckled to himself in amusement.

"Oh, that's right, you don't know about Tenant."

"Tenant?" Miss Militia asked. "Does the Paranorms have another member we're not aware of?"

"There can't be," Accord told her. "I planned this perfectly, it's impossible."

"Well," Troll said with a little tilt of his head. "I wouldn't say that."

"Tell me about this Tenant." Miss Militia ordered him. Troll grinned.

"Well, you might say he is the brains of the operation."

"He is the mastermind?" Miss Militia asked. Troll shook his head as best he could in the suit.

"No, he and Tsundere and what you might call likeminded individuals. He is the kind of guy that really gets inside your head, you know?"

"He is trying to distract us," Accord told her. "I have told you, there is no sixth member. He is just trying to make us doubt the plan."

"The plan eh?" Troll asked with a grin. "Must be some plan, if you think you can take us all down with it." Accord eyed him harshly.

"It is. Each person was selected due to their skills and the plan was made with the utmost precision."

"Really? Like with me?"

Accord nodded and moved to show the cloud of mist behind him. The cloud consolidated into a woman made entirely out of water. Her fingertips froze and ice began climbing up her arms.

"Mistwalker was selected to partially drown you and put you in this containment suit so you would be unable to respawn and move. The perfect solution to the perfect pain."

"Aw, I'm flattered." Troll answered with fake bashfulness. "What about the others then, I suppose you think you have some perfect counter for them too. I doubt it, stupid rule followers like you could never beat, what was it? 'Agents of chaos'." Accord's eyebrow twitched.

"I assure you, The Lines are more than capable."

"The Lines? That's a stupid name."

"It is necessary to teach little children like yourself to colour within the lines. And that has become my duty." Accord snapped. Troll rolled his eyes.

"So what? Are you going to drown the others as well?"

"No. Brute has already been knocked unconscious by the Number Man for the next hour. Queen is in the process of getting captured by Contessa and Vista, she only prolongs the inevitable with her struggle. Show Stopper will keep Reaper in his form for as possible so he can not jump into a new machine anytime soon once the EMP goes off. And Card Trick is more than a match for Tsundere."

"Wow," Troll said. "You really thought this out didn't you?"

"Of course," Accord answered. "Even though it may not seem so on the surface, I knew every move you made before you made it. I perfected every part of this plan to the highest detail. You never stood a chance."

"Hmm," Troll thought. "But the problem with plans like that is they all fall apart if something unexpected happens."

"True," Accord sniffed. "But I know you all better than you know yourselves, nothing you could have done would have been unexpected. Which is why I choose a plan like that, because I know nothing wrong would ever occur."

"Wow, you're full of yourself." Troll stated plainly. Accord frowned.

"You earn the right when you know your place in the world. Mine is here, gloating over you. Yours is in that metal prison of yours."

Troll rolled his eyes at him. "Well, I don't like where I am much right now. So I think I'll change it. Good thing I put that cyanide capsule in my teeth after Tick Tock caught me huh?" Troll took immense satisfaction at Accords expression as he opened his mouth wide and clamped down on the pill, breaking it open and the poison filling his mouth.

"No!" Accord yelled. "You can't-"

 **Troll has committed suicide.**


	45. Victory Through Defeat

My two katanas and two bokkens whirled around me as fast as I could get them. The Witch transformation let me levitate them around my body, but it wasn't enough. The cards Card Trick launched at me was a never-ending stream that I had to focus all of my effort on countering.

I grit my teeth as I was forced to duck underneath one that got far too close to my face. The purple micro-chainmail kimono was tough, but it wasn't willing to test to see if those cards had enough force in a small enough area to cut through interlocking steel. And given that the steel chainmail only exists through my power, I was even less sure.

I soared upward before spinning around and doing a nose dive toward him, my four weapons slashing wildly in front of me to intercept any projectiles. Card Trick calmly pointed two decks of cards at me and launched a small torrent of cards at me. My swords and bokkens intercepted them all, causing them to explode in purple and pink light that briefly obstructed my vision.

Before I even saw that Card Trick had moved I felt a card enter my range and was forced to do a barrel roll to avoid it. But I wasn't fast enough to dodge the second one that struck and exploded against my shoulder.

The explosion threw me from the sky and sent me plummeting uncontrollably downward. I struck the bridge to the Protectorate headquarters and crashed straight through the asphalt, concrete, and steel. I slammed against the water below on my back and felt a jolt go through my body before I began to sink under the water.

'Tenant, damage report.' I demanded. Tenant suddenly appeared in my vision sitting in some leather control seat, manipulating hollow graphic screens around him.

"You power is holding you together, but just barely. The explosions aren't that much of a problem, but when you hit the ground and water you took some damage. Not enough to matter, but that was just one hit. Be careful." I nodded and closed my eyes.

The Witch had telekinesis of everything within my range, and right now I was surrounded by water. I grabbed onto as much of it as I could and focused on controlling it.

I suddenly burst from the water with a massive orb of water surrounding me thirty feet in all directions. I spied Card Trick and I shot forward before he had a chance to move out of the way, and not for lack of trying.

I caught him on the edge of the sphere of water and immediately start forcing water down his nose and throat. He fired cards at me but their momentum died in the water. As he drowned in front of me I thought I had him for a brief moment. But then I felt something very large slam against the side of the water orb and I lost control over it as the mass hit me.

I abandoned the water in favour of pulling myself free of whatever it was assaulting me. I flew underneath it then up and around so I was above only to find it was the Dragon Mech Reaper was possessing.

Show Stopper suddenly appeared in the air with us, his music quickly overtaking the sound of anything else. My second mind made a quick observation of him. His music was some sort of fast-paced dubstep song with a heavy base. Each time the base went off Show Stopper pulsed in a different colour. He punched Reaper's machine three times before shooting a beam out of his hand that blasted Reaper into the ground. Each strike had matched the rhythm of the song, and the beam out of his hand coincide with a long synthetic guitar power strum. Somehow his power was linked to the music.

Before I could think any deeper on that I was bombarded by another set of cards. My swords and bokken took the brunt of them, but a few slipped past. One grazed my face, just millimeters away from my eye socket.

I grit my teeth and focused my attention on Card Trick. He didn't even seem winded or worried at all. He floated calmly with both of his arms out in a vaguely religious form, a deck of cards in each hand. Just how many of those damn things did he have?

"Tsundere?" Troll's voice asked. I blinked, confused for a moment. Then I remembered the earpiece I had. I guess my power had protected it through this.

"A little busy Troll," I said sternly as I shot forward into the sky with Card Trick right behind me. I broke the cloud layer a moment later.

"They're stalling you to get Queen. Ergo was going to detonate an EMP that would disable Reaper the moment they had her and then these two would team up against you. I took care of Ergo, but Queen needs you." I grit my teeth and I felt a surge of my power.

"Help Reaper," I growled. "I'll make this quick." Tenant raised an eyebrow at me.

"You know that you can't brute force your way through this fight right?" Instead of responding, I let an idea form in my mind that Tenant instantly understood. "I see, I'll get it started." I nodded and turned towards Card Trick. I curled my fist and shot forward with a sonic boom cracking like lighting behind me.

Down on the ground Troll had just taken his hand away from his earpiece and looked over at Ergo, zip tied and lying on the ground silently. Troll was pointing a revolver at his face. He took a step towards him, careful not to get close enough he could be a problem.

"Alright you," Troll said as seriously as he could. "I really need to help Reaper and Tsundere get a handle on this situation so I'm going to ask you some simple questions and if I don't get quick simple answers I'm going to start taking kneecaps. Do you understand." Ergo nodded once. He didn't look scared or intimidated, maybe just a little put off.

"What is your power." Troll asked him.

"I understand things," Ergo stated. "I understand every component of a gun and function of a gun. I can see a cape and have a complete understanding of their power."

"Then how does my power work." Troll asked dangerously. He had made a point never to think about it, but since Tick Tock brought it up Troll couldn't get it off his mind. The idea that everyone else would eventually die and he would be left alone. He knew he wasn't exactly being subtle in his true purpose for asking that question, but he needed to know.

Ergo studied him up and down for a moment before answering. "You power has picked a point far into your future where you die. You cannot die anywhere but that place and time. If you went to another Earth you would always respawn back here because this is the world you're fated to die in." Troll's eyes narrowed. He wasn't sure how to take that, but there were more pressing matters.

"Then how were you able to fight Tsundere hand to hand before she went to full power?"

Ergo shrugged. "I understood it would hurt to get hit in the face and understood I had to lean back to avoid it, ergo, I dodge her and struck when I could." Troll was about to ask the next question when he paused.

"Wait, did you just pun off of your own name?"

A light smile appeared on Ergo's lips. "Well, you do it a lot from what I hear." Troll considered that for a moment.

"Fair enough. Anyway," Troll took a deep breath and glanced at the fight. "Tell me what you know about these guys and anything else I need to know."

"I am a mercenary cape, hired by Cauldron after Tick Tock injured one of the original members of this team. Show Stopper and Card Trick are supplied by Accord who is also part of the effort to take you down. Number Man and Mistwalker are both from Cauldron meant specifically to take you and Brute down, as they did. Vista was sent to assist Contessa in capturing Queen, but Contessa is not part of The Lines."

"The Lines eh?" Troll thought for a moment. "Show Stopper's power, how does it work?"

"He is a Tinker and Trump. He translates music into individual powers, specifically the kind that would help him in combat like invincibility, laser beams, and strength. All you have to do is disrupt his music to defeat him."

"Huh, a stupid weakness for a stupid power. Fitting. Anything else?"

"Yes," Ergo responded, "But nothing I can tell you. I understand that because you are here that the plan is falling apart, which is why I tell you as much as I can. But I also understand that Accord would kill me if I told you about a much larger plan, or if I told you about Cauldrons purpose. Instead, I'll settle for telling you that there is a larger plan and that Cauldron exists for a specific reason. And with that, I'll take my leave."

Ergo started climbing off the ground and Troll thought of some reason to keep him there. Finding nothing he shrugged and slipped his revolver back into his inventory, pulling out a sniper instead. After making sure that Ergo walked off with his hands still zip tied, Troll turned his sniper towards the fighting.

Reaper was in the middle of fighting Show Stopper. Show Stopper appeared to have super speed, strength, invincibility, and the occasional burst of laser powers. Slowly, an idea hatched in his head. If all he needed to do was derail his music, then he knew the one thing guaranteed to throw off any song.

He whipped out a phone, pulled up what he wanted, and ran towards Reaper. He pulled out a rocket launcher as he ran. He called his rocket launcher Scissors, because he always seemed to be running with it.

Show Stopper moved in his path as he darted toward Reaper. Troll quickly fired Scissors at him, causing an explosion the size of a small car which Troll danced around. A hook shot out of Reaper and struck the road next to Show Stopper, temporarily freezing the ground around it. Reaper then suddenly opened his dragon mouth and let out a torrent of flames that kept Show Stopper busy.

"Reaper, play this!" Troll yelled, hold his phone forward. "It'll throw his music off completely." Reaper took a step back and the mech kneeled down, never stopping the fire jet for a moment. A little porthole opened up and Troll quickly deposited the phone.

"It is going to take a minute," Speakers from the mech said in a vaguely masculine voice. "Think you can keep him busy for a moment?"

"Well, I'll certainly try." Troll said with a smile. He stored Scissors away and pulled out Queen's railgun. The mech Reaper was in nodded and the fire breath cut off as Reaper began walking backwards.

Troll ran forward and started opening fire on Show Stopper the moment he could see him. The round exploded against his costume with just enough force to cause him to stumble, throwing off his rhythm for a moment. Troll grinned.

The song suddenly hit a guitar strum and Troll action rolled to the side as Show Stopper unleashed a beam of light in his direction. He came out of the roll with his gun raised and fired at him. To the beat of the dubstep, Show Stopper dodged out of the way with easy before countering with a massive jump into the sky before descending with an Earth shaking punch into the dirt.

Troll was sent flying backward from the force, but managed to roll to his feet and started firing on him again. This time, he timed his shots so each one was out of time with the song. This time his shots struck true and he got to see Show Stopper grow a little annoyed.

Suddenly Show Stopper was up in his face. Troll leaned back, narrowing avoiding his first swinging at his face. Out of muscle memory Troll brought the butt of his gun up and slammed it against Show Stopper's chin, but it fell on a base beat and managed to dodge the worst of it.

Undeterred, Troll pressed forward with a fierce attack with the gun and his fist. At first, he failed to hit him until he realized he was subconsciously following the beat of the song, Show Stopper's hoturf. It took all of his willpower to ignore the music and just striking as fast as possible.

Show Stopper took three strikes to the face before thrusting his fist forward, punching through his gun and hitting Troll directly in the face.

Troll's jaw broke upon contact with the super strength powered fist. He was sent rolling across the ground, his skin scraping on the asphalt, his arm breaking, three ribs breaking, and his ankle getting dislocated. His rolling stopped when he crashed into the metal railing on the side of the bridge where there was still bridge standing.

"You got style," Show Stopper said, walking up to Troll. "I dig it." Troll coughed up a bit of blood. Apparently, he had some internal bleeding too.

"Oh, I got style like you wouldn't know." Troll beamed up at him with his trademark silly grin. The pain was extremely uncomfortable, but he had trained himself not to react to it over the years. He wished he could become used to it, but new body came with fresh pain receptors each time.

Suddenly Reaper began playing a song out of his speakers that distracted Show Stopper for a few seconds. Toll leapt forward, pulling two daggers with the armour piercing edge Queen gave them and stabbed both right into his costume's speakers.

"Aw man," Show Stopper complained. "You totally killed my vibe man." Troll grinned.

"My Little Pony theme song, guaranteed to disrupt literally anything going on around it."

Show Stopper grinned. "You got some sick moves man." Show Stopper complimented him.

"Not so bad yourself." Troll said, returning the favour. Show Stopper sighed.

"I guess this is the part where-" He was cut off by Reaper landing the entire Dragon mech on top of him, crushing Show Stopper's body underneath in a spray of blood and bone.

"What the hell!" Troll shouted angrily. The Dragon mech turned its head and Reaper glared at him.

"I'm going to help Tsundere." He said, before taking off. Troll watched him fly away furiously. They beat him, they had him stopped and he had surrendered. Yet Reaper killed him anyway. Troll knew they were villains and all, but they weren't that kind of villain. Troll took a deep breath and calmed himself. There would be a time and a place for this, right now he should go help Queen.

That thought was interrupted when he was lifted up off the ground and was suddenly speeding through the air.

I continued to fight Card Trick for what seemed like forever. I almost had him when he went to grab a spare deck from one of his pockets, but I missed in the end. I just needed to buy more time, but so did he. And the longer we fought with each other more danger Queen would be in.

"It's ready Tsundere." Tenant suddenly said. I checked my third mind and saw the course plotted out for me. I grinned.

I flew forward with a sudden burst of speed that Card Trick was forced to dodge. In going past, I deliberately left my back wide open to an attack, baiting him into launching more cards at me. I felt the cards enter my range right as I stopped flying when I was where I needed to be. I turned and crossed my arms in front of me and hopped it was enough to block the cards.

The cut into my arms and struck my bones before exploding and sending me hurtling towards the ground. I already knew the damage was bad when I could feel the stinging despite everything Tenant did to block the pain. At least he made it the enjoyable sort of pain.

God, I was fucking weird.

I pulled out of my descent at the last moment before hitting the ground and found Troll right in front of me, Brute's unconscious body about twenty feet in the other direction. I grabbed them both with my power and started flying upwards towards Card Trick.

Suddenly my perception of time slowed down and I had to deal with the disorienting effect of telling my body to move a certain speed, feeling my body moving at that speed, but processing it a whole lot slower. Thankfully I had all the time I need to get accustomed to it.

I threw Troll at Card Trick at something of an angle, the absurdity of the attack knocking him off guard a bit. He shot five cards into Troll before he even got close.

 **Card Trick dealt Troll a bad hand.**

Once Troll was gone, Card Trick noticed I was getting a little closer than her like and started firing card at me rapidly. But at this speed, I was able to see them coming slowly enough that I was able to dodge them all one at a time.

The moment Card Trick noticed I was avoiding all of his cards, he suddenly threw two whole decks at me, the cards fanning out widely before flying forward. Normally I wouldn't have been able to dodge, but this time I didn't need to. I moved Brute's body directly in front of me and pressed forward.

The cards exploded against his skin and costume, but it hardly mattered. If anything it might wake him up. Before Card Trick could react to me shooting through his wall, I collided with him in full force, Brute leading the charge. The impact sent him flying out of control where I had a katana fly forward and impale him through one of his legs.

"Can't Brute force my way through this fight MY ROUND ASS!" I yelled. Tenant rolled his eyes at me.

Without giving him a chance to recover, I flew forward and used Brute's body as a bat and slammed him towards the ground, making him land with a large splash.

Card Trick came sailing out of the water, his hands raised high as fired of another torrent of cards. I brought Brute back in front of me to shield myself when I saw Reaper barrel through the sky out of nowhere and unleash a wave of fire from Dragon mech mouth.

Card Trick disappeared for a few moments, and for a second I thought he was actually burnt to a crisp. Then he suddenly plummeted out of the flames and fired another barrage of cards, this time at Reaper.

His mech body was much larger and a lot less maneuverable than I was, so he was forced to tank every shot. Thankfully Dragon did good work, combined with Reaper making machines he possessed studier and he was going to be in good shape. The card cut about halfway into the steel and stuck there without exploding. I guess it was my power countering their near invincibility with my own that caused them to explode. Reaper and other people would only get cut.

Undeterred from the cards, Reaper flew back up and hovered near me. I moved Brute, my two swords, and my two bokkens in front of me. We paused for a moment, not doing anything.

Card Trick stared at us, he eyes moving back and forth. Slowly, he raised his hands straight up before dropping the cards he still had in his hand. They fall apart and began falling towards the water below. Card Trick turned and flew back towards the city. Reaper moved to follow him, but I stopped him.

"We have to help Queen," I stated. Reaper didn't answer me, instead, her began flying towards Queen's ship. I felt The Witch slip away from me and suddenly found myself unable to fly. That was fine though, normal anime powers should be enough for this.

I angled myself so I would land on the shore as I fell, hitting the road with a massive crater forming around her impact. I grabbed my katanas and bokkens out of the air before they hit the ground and sheathed them. I took a deep breath and turned in Queen's direction before breaking into an all-out sprint.

I arrived on the scene a few moments after Reaper did, jumping to the tops of buildings to get a good view. Queen was fighting both Contessa and Vista on _The Tower_. And things didn't look good.

 _The Tower_ looked like it was barely still floating. Like someone took photobooth filters to it the way everything was twisted. It didn't look like the original ship at all. The guns and deck were stretched upwards into giant metal pillars and spikes. The sides of the ship were just twisted and out of shape. The whole structure leaning heavily on its side.

I could see Queen fighting among the forest of spiked pillars among Queen's ship. Or rather, I knew it was Queen because of the amount of explosions occurring from that area. I could see Contessa and Vista somewhere in there, but it was impossible to tell exactly where from where I was.

"Reaper, take us over them," I said, leaping off the building and grabbing onto the mech's front leg. The Dragon mech shot forward, taking us above the fight.

Vaguely conscious of my second mind working with Tenant, time slowed down. I watched in more detail this time as we got closer.

Queen was bleeding, several of the guns mounted on her power armour were broke and unusable. She was using swords and miniature missiles as well as her flight pack. But everything else was too broken.

She was fighting Vista, who continuously made walls and more spike pillars out of the ship with her power. Each time she did so, _The Tower_ groaned and leaned a little bit more. The walls caught the brunt of what Queen shot at her, but she seemed to be forgetting that Queen's power set revolved around breaking walls.

That wasn't what bothered me though. It was the fact that Contessa was sneaking up behind her with some sort of Tinker weapon that made me worry. And Queen didn't seem to notice her.

I let go of Reaper and started falling towards the ship, pulling out both katanas as I did. My eyes narrowed as I aimed for Contessa and shouted,

"Death Spiral!" Once again, my vision went dark as I became a spinning tornado of death. I was only aware I was falling until I slammed into the deck of the ship, cutting myself into a deep hole before coming to a stop.

My sphere of influence told me I had only just missed, as there were two figures standing nearby. I turned towards them just in time to see Contessa shoot Queen with some sort of electric pulse from the gun. Queen collapsed.

I screamed in frustration and darted forward, but I wasn't fast enough. Contessa had grabbed Queen and a doorway opened up behind her. She was already halfway through it before I even got in striking distance. On a whim, out of pure instinct, I dove through the portal as well.

I suddenly found myself in some sort of prison area. Most of them only had three walls and a tile floor. Yet the people inside seemed to be reluctant to want to leave. I saw Contessa putting Queen down on the floor inside one of the cell-like things. My eyes narrowed. I couldn't beat her, I knew this. I wasn't the smartest person, I wasn't the most talented. But I knew that if I fought her, I would lose.

"Leave," Contessa said, turning to face me. She gestured to the portal still open behind me. "We only want Queen. Just go."

"I don't think so."

It wasn't me that said it. I was aware of people coming through the portal and turned to see Troll followed by Brute and ghost Reaper coming through. Contessa narrowed her eyes, but she wasn't nervous. I guess she could still see a way to beat us.

"Hey, I gave you a message last time," I said, pulling out a bokken as a wide grin spread across my face. "Prepare thy anus." I whirled around and slammed my katana against the nearest cell, striking with enough force to break every wall and destroy some of the next cell. The occupant looked like he pissed his pants.

I saw Contessa's eyes widened slightly just before Brute caught my meaning and punched the ground, hard. The floor shattered and then we were falling.

If we fight Contessa we would lose, so naturally, the only way to win the game is to simply not play.

I leapt as high as I could and struck the ceiling above me with a bokken, causing it to cave in on the ground below where Troll, Brute, and Contessa had fallen to. People were leaving their cells, if a little hesitantly. I saw Brute smashing walls, throwing chunks at rubble at any supports. Troll had pulled out his handy rocket launcher and was blowing up everything in sight. Contessa was running towards one of them, but I was unsure which.

I made my way to the top floor and looked around. I saw lots and lots of machines and sciency stuff all around. It looked very expensive and very fragile.

I started breaking it all as fast as I could. Metal and circuitry was flying all around the room as I treated the stuff like glorified pinatas with my bokken was the bat. Some test tubes and other science equipment I didn't know the names shatter and went flying. I broke down a few walls and just kept going. The more destruction, the better.

I suddenly notice fire rising around. Not normal fire, but golden flame fire. One of the inmates using their powers. Good, she was going to have a hard enough time dealing with the four of us, let alone a full-scale prison riot.

It was then I noticed a bunch of cords routed through an open portal and I grinned.

"Ten minutes until the Brawler transformation." Tenant mentioned offhandedly.

"Don't need it," I responded out loud before running through the portal.

I was in some other facility in some other place. This one had a lot more scientists in it, but they all seemed to be panicking. I shrugged and ignored them, I focused on the destruction aspect.

"Seismic Crash!" I shouted. I was probably mixing up move names now, but my power worked with it anyway just so long as I got the general premise correct. My bokken became supercharged and I swung it against a wall, causing an explosion that ripped into the next five rooms of the complex.

"You know," Tenant said dryly. "I give you perfect memory, there is no reason for you to be mixing up these move names."

'Too much effort.' I retorted. Tenant sighed.

"Well, in any case. Here are the moves that would, and I quote, as you put it, 'fuck up their shit', as much as possible." I grinned as they all flooded my second mind. My third mind began plotting the course.

"Sonic Slam!" I shouted, throwing myself upward. My bokken moved so fast it created a vacuum of air as it trailed upward. It crashed through the ceiling with me behind it. I sailed upward into the air, through another ceiling and flying outside and above the complex. He had to have soared at least a mile up before I started to fall again.

It was night time on this Earth. Oddly peaceful way up here. I got to see the entire complex from my bird's eye few. It was a large square that had to be several miles long. Some sort of super structured on an Earth with nothing else there. Or in the middle of nowhere, I wasn't sure. I had exited the roof in the far left corner, so now I aimed for the centre before shouting my next move.

"Coment Smash!" My second bokken flew into my hand and I started spinning rapidly, becoming a ball of unstoppable force.

I crashed into the facility's roof and just keep going. I went through one floor and then another and another. I slammed through the basement and into other level of it and just kept moving downward until I eventually stopped a ridiculous and uncountable amount of floors down.

"Earthquake!" I shouted, slamming my bokken into the ground, causing an effect exactly like you might expect. The whole structure began to shake and rock, the massive hole I just put through the middle of it wasn't helping. I sheathing the bokken and grabbed my katanas. Instantly, each katana took on a blue and red glow perspective. I started jumping up through the floors, getting as high as I could before spinning around and looking down on the building that was barely holding together as it was.

"Elemental Strike!" Each katana let out a force wave, one blue and one red, that got bigger the longer it flew through the air. It was roughly the size of a football field when it hit the building. There was a brief moment when the force wave only cut into the structure. A second later it exploded with a storm of chaotic elemental fury.

"One minute before The Brawler." Tenant said. I nodded and started moving upward again. The building was collapsing in on itself. The amount of damage I had been doing was causing all of its structural support to fall, making even more carnage and destruction as I went past.

I found myself at the top of the building and started running forward, dragging my katana across the ground in a way that left a massive gash across what was left of the still collapsing roof.

With my anime speed, I got about a whole mile in just a few seconds. I suddenly stopped when a golden portal opened up in front of me and a haggard looking Contessa came out. She had Queen in her arms.

"Look," Contessa said. She spoke fast, she spoke angrily. Good, I enjoyed seeing her worked up. "You are a massive problem. The Paranorms and Queen are one of the largest problems in the world. But right now, you are threatening to completely destroy everything we have built. Which makes you a problem even larger than Queen and anything else we have encountered." Contessa took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut.

"But sometimes the best solution to a problem is the easiest. So here," Contessa held Queen out to me. "Take her and go. Don't come back." I lift my katana out of the ground and sheathed it. Cautious, I walked forward and took Queen in one hand holding her steady as she swayed on her feet.

"Hey Tsu," Queen coughed weakly. "We got her good huh?" I looked up at Contessa and smiled.

"That we did."

Contessa shook her head and snapped her fingers. A portal opened and Brute, Troll, and Reaper stepped through it. The doorway closed and a new one opened up on the other side of me.

"That will take you back." Contessa sighed. I gave her a smug look and said,

"Hey, I want you to remember the next time you get in our way. The next time you declare war on us, remember we are an actual army."

"Infantry," Troll said.

"Tank support." Brute told her, catching on quickly.

"Black ops." Reaper sighed.

"Special Forces," I said with a grin.

"Logistics!" Queen cheered, even if it was a little weak.

"Central Intelligence." Tenant murmured uncaringly as he could actually be heard be the others. I gave her a sarcastic salute before leading us through the doorway and bringing us back to Brockton Bay.


	46. We Won?

"So, how did it go?" Tattletale asked me. We were standing on the deck of _The Arch_ , just me, Tattle, and Skitter, all in costume. The sun was setting off in the distance and a cool breeze was blowing. It would have been peaceful if it wasn't for Queen's Scourges rising partially out of the water to consume the mutated hull of _The Tower._ They reminded me of some sort of cross between a centipede and a lobster with their long bodies and creepy legs. _The Tower_ groaned as it could no long stay upright the way it was and crashed on its side, sending a large wave towards the shore. I wonder if kids will start playing on the beaches again once we're gone.

"Oh you know, kicked their asses, caused a few billion dollars in property damage not to mention anything else I destroyed during that whole fiasco." I took a deep breath and sighed. "I guess the real question is what is going to happen now." Tattletale grinned slightly.

"Cauldron will go back into hiding now that you two have come to terms. We were the only ones that really knew they were evolved, let alone exist." When she said that, it caused another question to come to mind.

"Hey, that reminds me. Tenant said he gave you a bunch of Alexandria's memories back during the whole Echidna thing. How come you never outed her or Cauldron." Tattletale shrugged.

"There was a moment when I could have, but it passed. To do it now would be… seriously problematic to say the least. I think we'll all just hold onto it for future leverage if we need it. Besides, Alexandria caught a whole bunch of flack when her clone was revealed as head of the Protectorate." A confused look crossed my face.

"I never noticed that." Tattletale rolled her eyes.

"Tsundere, it has been all over the news ever since it happened. It was a massive scandal." I held up my hands defensively.

"Hey, between Tick Tock and these clowns, I've been busy." Tattletale rolled her eyes, but smile.

We turned back towards the bay and watched the last bits of _The Tower_ disappear beneath the water, a steady stream of bubbles rising up from where it disappeared to. Skitter sighed.

"And of course, once you move out of town the Protectorate is going to rain hell on our heads." I frowned.

"Would they really do that?" Tattletale snorted and I got the impression Skitter roled her eyes.

"With all the hell we've raised together between taking the city and everything you guys have done, not to mention when you destroyed half of their base in response to them publicly outing me, I think it is safe to say we would be kind of screwed."

"Would be?" I asked quizzically. Skitter and Tattletale looked at eachother for a moment.

"I'm going to turn myself in," Taylor said. "Ask for full immunity for The Undersiders, and with you guys moving out of town I think it will be a bit easier than otherwise." I frowned. I couldn't imagine Skitter willing going to prison like this. I always pictured her going down fighting. And knowing how much she dislikes the Wards and how much I hate the Wards, it was really sad if she chose to make that part of the deal like I thought she was going to do.

"Are you sure? I could always have Queen station ships here if that would make you more secure." Skitter shook her head.

"That would do the exact opposite. But I think-" Skitter paused and looked out over the bay for a long moment. "I think this is the right choice. I've done a lot of things I didn't like to do but had to. Maybe, things will be better like this. I'll get to see my father again, at the very least."

I moved away from the railing and I looked at her. She had gone under a lot of changes over the last few months. Tenant and my second mind kindly pointed each one out to me in detail, but I pushed it away. That wasn't the point. In a lot of ways, she was my first friend to come out of all of this. It didn't seem so at first, but the moment I met Skitter, we were friends.

"You know the end of the world happens in four years right?" I asked her. "If we all live to get there, you'll be twenty years old next time I see you." Skitter turned and looked at me, moving away from the railing to match me.

"Don't worry, I don't think you'll ever stop being a teenager," Skitter remarked. I grinned at her. She held out a hand for me to shake, like we were colleagues sadly ending a business deal. I grabbed her hand and pulled her close to me, wrapping her in a tight hug. She had a lot of muscle now, but she was still the skinny villainous heroin I followed out of the Leviathan attack.

"Come on you two," Tattletale said with a laugh. "We have to get going. We want to get this down before they recuperate from the fight today." Skitter and I broke apart. I grinned at her and then at Tattletale.

"Take care you two, I'll see you whenever."

"Goodbye." Skitter said.

"See ya," Tattletale said with a wave. I turned around and start towards door into the ship. I had Queen and Reaper working on getting a video feed to all of Brockton Bay. If we were going to leave, I wanted everyone to know why and that it was on our terms.

I opened the heavy door and entered the ship. I walked down the maze of hallways I was already learning to memorize. This was our third ship, and I was beginning to get a good handle on where everything was. The engine room, Queen's foundry, the bed room, the cafeteria, and the master bed room Queen and I now shared. There was also a war room. One we hadn't used nearly as much as we could. It was basically a conference room with a few monitors and computers hanging around. But war room sounded cooler than confrence room.

I walked in and found Queen working on a large computer with a determined look on her face.

"Is it almost ready?" I asked. Queen glanced up at me and smiled.

"Twenty minutes." She chirped. I smiled and took a seat at the table. Alex suddenly came out of the computer Queen as working on and floated into a seat next to me. He was wearing black jeans and a white button up shirt with only half of the buttons done, showing off his gorgeous abs. Mmm, abs.

We waited silently for a time, waiting for the minutes to tick past. Hacking was boring, or at least it was to us. Queen seem to be having fun. Every no and then she would say something along the lines of 'I see your C++ and raise you a Delta## with third dimensional programing' or 'Your binary is adorable, lets see how you handle Mozart'. And then she started playing classical music. This was hacking, apparently. Or at least how Queen hacked.

About ten minutes in Brute came in, pushing Jess' chair in front of him. I offered her a light smile. She had thin scars not fully healed on her cheeks and and hands. An ominous reminder of what we had to put up with.

Jess smiled back, but there was something missing from it. I couldn't put my finger on it exactly, but something was missing from her eyes when she smiled.

"How is it going you two?" I asked. Brute shrugged and took his mask off. He rolled Jess to the table before sitting next to her and pulling out a cigar.

"It goes," he answer before lighting it up and taking a strong puff from it. The smell of it filled the room quickly.

"Are you excited for the travels ahead?" It sounded cheesy right out of my mouth, but it regardless, I wanted to know. I suddenly noticed Tenant leaning against the back wall twirling his cane in his hand.

"More or less." Brute answered. My eyes shifted to Jess who was looking curiously at Queen.

"What about you?" She blinked a moment before she realized who I was talking to.

"Oh, um. Yeah, I think so." I frowned a little.

"Are you sure? You know, we could always use someone acting like a command center. You never know out there, if you don't want to fight you could always help us plan and stuff. You could work the radio tower thingy will we fight."

"Communications thingy." Queen corrected me without looking up from her computer. I rolled my eyes.

"I don't know…" Jess mumbled. "I just kind of wanted to stay with Stravik, not really anything else." I raised an eyebrow.

"So," Tenant scoffed from the corner. "You want us to feed and house you just so you can stay with your boyfriend? Freeloader." I chose to ignore him.

"Fine, have it your way." At that moment Troll strode into the room like a rooster strutting into the hen house. Even had the walk down.

"Whats up guys?" He asked with a silly grin on his face. I waved at Queen.

"Just waiting for her to finish up so we can leave our bomb ass goodbye message." At that moment Queen looked up and smiled.

"All done Tsu!" I grinned and stood up from my seat.

"Masks on everyone." Brute replaced his on his face, not bothering to put out the cigar. Troll pulled his Lenny face one-way mirror mask and fixed it in place. I activated my power a little more and warped my facial features to reflect the more accurate anime version of me. Alex buttoned up his shirt and produced a bow tie out of his pocket, fixing it in place and before floating out of his chair and reaching through a wall. When his hand came back he was holding his tail coat, hat, and mask. He had to have planned that.

Queen just stood there and looked adorable the whole time.

Once we were all ready, we moved in front of a camera Queen had set up. It had a little red light at the time to show we weren't streaming yet. Jess didn't come into the camera frame, instead sitting out and watching passively. Oddly enough, Tenant came into the camera angle as well even though I was the only one who could see him.

The light turned green and suddenly one of the monitors in the room clicked on, displaying the camera's view of us. We looked like a disorganized version of one of the photos the PRT posed for. With me at the center but without the team making a v-formation around me.

"Hello everyone," I said. "As you all may know, we are The Paranorms. The last couple of months we have brought endless stress to this city. We fought Brigadier, we fought Tick Tock." And Echidna, I added silently. "We have beaten down the Protectorate again and again, including their recent attempt to get us. Each time, we come out on top. Right now, there is no reason to think this city houses anything that could possibly stop us. Perhaps nothing in this country.

"Which is why I would like to announce that we are leaving!" I grinned at the camera as I let that sink in. "It has been more fun than you could ever know, and I wish you all the best of luck. But as of now, we are going out into the world to find really interesting people to fight. Because that is what we want. We don't need money or resources. We want fun, and I do not give a damn about any rules preventing us from doing so. So, farewell and fuck you." I grinned and looked back at the others.

"Anything else guys?" To my surprise, Queen stepped forward. She glanced between me and the camera for a moment before saying,

"I got something." I raised an eyebrow as she took a step toward me. My eye widened suddenly as I quickly found Queen pressing her lips against mine, a tongue worming its way through.

After I got over my initial shock I closed my eyes and leaned into it. I did find an excited feeling stirring in me at the thought of this being veiw all around Brockton Bay. That's right, I was dating Queen of the Castle, The Mad Tinker. Be jealous, be afraid. I giggled a little.

Queen broke apart at my giggle and grinned at me. Without breaking eye contact, she reached over and shut the camera off. Brute cough into his hand and failed to get either of our attentions as Queen leand back into kissing me.

"Hear we see two lesbians in their natural habitats." I heard someone with a really, really bad Australian accent say. I glanced back and saw Troll recording us on his cell phone.

"Watch as their tongues struggle for dominance between their mouths. No doubt whoever wins this battle of dexterous taste receptors will be in charge of keeping the other awake all night. They say lesbians of this breed have extra taste buds on the tip of their tongue to better-"

 **Queen shot Troll.**

Queen grinned and stored her gun away. To my dismay, she started walking away. I sighed sadly before realizing everyone else was staring at me.

"What?" I asked stupidly. Brute shook his head.

"You two need to get room, yaes." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Like you're one to talk. I caught you giving Jess a shower the other day. Note, you guys do have private showers, use them." Jess suddenly turned a bright pink as color rose to her cheeks and then the rest of her face. I rose my eyebrows in challenge toward Brute. It was impossible to read his expression through the mask, but his lips were pursed tightly. I took that as a win.

Brute turned without another word and walked out of the room, Jess rolling out just behind him. I turned and looked at Reaper.

"I think I got their panites in a twist." Reaper held up his hands and began signing at me.

" _You think Troll could share that video with me?"_ I fixed him with a dubious smile.

"Why settle for the video, why not just come watch?"

" _Don't tempt me."_ He answered before slipping into the floor and disappearing. He was apparently harder to embarrass.

I sighed and rose from my seat and started trudging off towards my bedroom. It only took a minute to get there and I was half surprised not to find Queen there. I guess she was doing some work.

I collapsed on the bed and slowly started relaxing my power. Weariness hit my like a train wreck. It wasn't all that surprising. I had used my power to fight for several hours, ending with an finale of causing untold amounts of destruction. Given all of that, I was in need of a week long nap. Perhaps literally.

With a small groan I took off my qipao and flung it across the room. I also undid my bra and did likewise. With those articles of clothing off, I crawled underneath the bed and hugged the pillow. It was one of James' pillows, which made it extra comfy. I had just closed my eyes when the door opened and light from the hallway outside poured in.

With a yawn I slowly sat up and saw Queen had entered the room with a stack of folders. As I sat up, the blanket fell away from me and exposed my chest. I noticed Queen blush a little before handing me the folders.

I raised a tired eyebrow. Each one had a name to it. Project Axel, Project Castle, Project Chassis, Project Fulcrum, Project Rampart, Project Armour, Project . Ugh, I was too tired for this.

'Tenant?' I mentally moaned. Tenant rolled his eyes at me.

"On it." He snapped his fingers and suddenly my mind because a little more perceptive. I was still tired as hell, but I could at least understand things now.

I started flipping through the pages of notes and blueprints Queen had drawn out. I got the general concept of things, but they way it was all designed and structured just didn't make any goddamn sense. Even so, I took me a full go sixty second to comprehend what I was looking at.

"Queen…" I said slowly. "These are great, it is just, well, somewhat concerning." Queen gave me a look.

"Which ones?" They were all somewhat concerning, but I held up Project Fulcrum and Project Rampart.

"I did what you asked me too after Tick Tock." I paused. Well, that changed things.

"So Fulcrum is for…"

"Him."

"And Rampart is for her?" Queen's head bobbed.

"Yep." I ran a hand through my hair. I needed a shower.

"What do you need for all of this?"

"I got to go to Japan to pick clean the ship graveyards from that big, big, war." World War 2, I guessed. I nodded.

"Okay, what else."

"African diamond mines to personally select and craft the crystal I need."

"Okay."

"Russia for the weapons grade uranium and plutonium. Not to mention tritium a deuterium."

"... That is really, really, _really_ concerning." Queen smiled.

"Don't worry Tsu, I wouldn't do anything you didn't tell me to do. But you wanted siege weapons to fight these people, I need these to make it." I sighed and nodded in agreement.

"Alright, you convinced me. But we'll make it discreet, we don't want anyone seeing you swiping uranium and think you're building a nuclear bomb." Queen grinned.

"Oh no, this is much worse." I swallowed.

"What else?"

"NASA for plasma injectors, DNA samples from the New York lab, the blueprints for tailoring machine in France, and half a dozen other things we can get along the way." I nodded tiredly. At least the rest of it didn't make question whether or not Queen was trying to end the world.

"Alright, we'll set a course for New York first thing in the morning."

"Yay," Queen cheered. She brushed the files aside and hopped in the bed with me. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Aren't you going to take your power armour off?" Queen looked a little embarrassed for a moment and dragged herself off the bed. She reached up and found a zipper on the skin tight suit underneath and started to pull it down, letting all the weapons and metal fall to the ground in one simple step.

When she had taken it off she stood there just in her underwear, blushing lightly.

"I'll go grab my PJs," Queen mumbled awkwardly. I smiled and reached forward to grab her hand, pulling her into the bed with.

"We won't need PJs." I whispered into her ear as I ran a hand down her smooth back. I pressed my lips to her and she immediately returned the favour. Why did her lips always taste like strawberry syrup?

I was a little surprised when I found Queen's hands getting a little familiar with my chest, then quickly discovered that there were a few more anime tropes I had gotten. I smiled against her mouth and reached up her back, undoing the clasp of her bra.

This was going to be a longer night than I thought.

Taylor was sitting on her thin bed, her back against the wall as she felt her way through the building with bugs. Her second mind was trying to construct a 3D model of the place like her third mind used to do, but it always came out a little wrong, a little fuzzy. Her memory was not nearly as good as it had been with Tenant.

She sighed and settled on just feeling every part of the building with her bugs. It wasn't that hard to do, her range was five block and this building was much smaller than that. But when she maneuvered her bugs to do so, she noticed someone coming toward her cell. Her bugs felt the fabric of their clothing and found a large face mask, a PRT officer.

She took a deep breath and stood up, preparing for what ever it was that The Director had in store for her next. His tactic of psychological humiliation and forcing her to wait without anything to occupy herself. That last part wasn't nearly as effective, as she always had her bugs.

The screen on the television blinked red once and beeped twice signalling the arrival of her visitor. Six seconds later the door slid open to reveal to PRT officer. Taylor waited for them to do something, but for a few secound all they did was stand there. And then, the officer reached up at took their mask and helmet off.

"I think that is against the rules." Taylor mentioned cautiously.

"Rules and I don't go together." Troll said once his mask was all the way off with a massive grin spreading across his face. "Senior PRT Captain John Smith, at your service."

Taylor found herself smiling despite herself.

"Troll, what are you doing here?" Troll laughed a little.

"Here to tell you goodbye and all that, you had already turned yourself in before I even knew you had left so I thought I at least owed you a goodbye. That, and I'm hitting on you." Rolled her eyes yet still smiled at him. Troll reached into his inventory and pulled out a few bundles of clothing.

"I got you some stuff, in case you really wanted to drive these big wigs crazy on how you got it." Taylor shook her head.

"That would give me a lot of unwanted attention when I really just want to get this all over with." Troll shrugged and placed the clothing back into his inventory.

"Then how about a quick drink together?" Troll pulled out a bottle of champagne and two wine glasses. Taylor hesitated for a moment before reaching forward and taking a glass. Troll grinned even harder and uncorked the bottle, expertly catching all of the spillage in his own glass. When it stopped bubbling as badly, he reached over and poured the rest into her glass.

"To the end of a long, successful, and villainous career. Cheers." Troll said, hold up his glass.

"Cheers." Taylor answered, clinking her glass against his. They both brought their drinks to their lips simultaneously and took sips. Taylor hadn't had a lot of alcohol, and only had champagne on New Years but even then it was a small sip while this was a whole glass. Yet still, she thought it tasted better than the average drink, and she like the feeling it had on her tongue. Bubbly, yet also with the strong bitter alcohol taste.

"You know," Troll mused between sips. "It isn't too late. I could bust you out of here, you could join The Paranorms, and we could travel the world. No Protectorate, no prison cells, nothing." Taylor sighed and looked him up and down.

"You really don't want me to do this do you?"

"Can you blame me? I can't hit on you if you're stuck in a jail cell. If you do this, we probably won't see you until the end of the world in four years. I can't wait that long." Taylor rolled her eyes.

"I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not. I have to do this."

"Yeah," Troll sighed sadly. "I know you do." He finished off his glass with a large gulp and shove it away into his inventory. For a moment he stood there awkwardly, as if unsure what to say. Taylor took a few more sips of her glass as was just about finished when he spoke again.

"Taylor, there actually was something I came here to do." Taylor rolled her eyes. Of course he did, she always suspected it.

"What is it?" She asked, raising her glass up to take one final sip. Suddenly Troll stepped forward and planted a large kiss right on her lips. Taylor nearly dropped her glass in shock. Before she could full comprehend what just happened, Troll pulled away and took a step outside of the doorway.

"Goodbye Taylor, see you in four years." He pressed a button on the door panel and the metal doors slid shut again. Leaving her alone in the room with an empty wine glass and a slight tingle on her lips from where Troll had kissed her.

"That's not fair," Taylor murmured.

Weld and Miss Militia sat at the same conference room they had been using for their secret meetings up until their plan to capture Queen and dismantle The Paranorms had failed. Weld tapped his finger impatiently. Doctor Mother wasn't here.

At exactly midnight Accord came into the room, flanked on either side by an Ambassador. One of which was Card Trick.

"You failed." Weld stated bluntly the moment Accord came into the room. Accord glared at him a moment before taking his seat.

"Yes, Troll appears to have been more resourceful than we imagined. And it would appear that Tsundere has scared off our other allies." Miss Militia shook her head.

"This was our one chance at taking them down, and we failed with a plan you guaranteed us would work."

"I don't know why you are complaining." Accord stated. "The Paranorms are leaving your city and Skitter of The Undersiders has turned herself in. You score a victory at the end of the day."

"Because it is unearned." Miss Militia growled at him. "They are still doing what they want and Skitter is playing some angle. We have Alexandria enroute to see if she can deal with her a bit better, throw her off track." Accord nodded.

"Sounds like you have it under control. Honestly, I only came to this meeting to see if you had any new information about The Paranorms I wasn't already aware of." Weld shot him a look.

"We don't have any." Accord sighed.

"Then our alliance is over. I would say it has been a pleasure working with you, but it hasn't." Accord rose from his seat and started walking towards the door.

"They're still out there you know." Weld called out to him. "They are still running around, causing chaos. Only now they are anywhere in the world doing any number of things. And it is because of your plan that it happened." Accord paused just before the door. He glance back at Weld a little.

"Have no fear, I'm not done with The Paranorms yet. This plan failed in order to give birth to a better, much larger plan. Isn't that right?" Accord asked the last part as he opened the door. On the other side a man in a military uniform that lacked the details that would link him to a country stood. He took a few steps forward to enter the room, his hands behind his back.

"Why yes, it is." Brigadier said, stepping out of the doorway to let Accord pass. Brigadier looked at Miss Militia and gave a curt nod and a salute before walking out the door behind Accord.


	47. Side Quests

I heaved a sigh as I walked back into the living room. The moment Amber heard my hooves softly impacting the carpet she leapt out of her seat on the sofa. Aisha was awake now, and apparently trying to show Will how to handle a controller for the console we got. And Will apparently found my father's beer. Great.

"Well?" Amber asked hopefully. Lisa rose from her seat, shooting me a curious look as she silently asked me the same question. I quirked my mouth and hung my head.

"I'm not going to turn him into the PRT," I finally managed to sigh.

"Yay!" Amber said, throwing her arms up into the air. I raised an eyebrow at her, that mood of her's seemed to switch on a dime.

"But," I said, instantly causing her face to frown. "I'm letting him go free either. I'm not sure what to think about you and him, but I know you hurt people. Intentionally or not. So instead, I'm keeping Ergo in the basement and I'm keeping you close by. Do you understand?"

Amber bit her lip and sighed, but nodded.

"Good, you can go see him then," I gestured towards the basement door and she eagerly clapped her hands together. Her mood flipping instantly again. She darted past me a moment later, leaving Lisa behind to stare at me.

"Getting in a habit of collecting people in your basement?" Lisa asked with a raised eyebrow. I shrugged.

"I'm a functioning addict," I answered with a weak smile. Lisa rolled her eyes at the half attempted joke.

"You know the PRT wanted you to turn him into them. They aren't going to like it much when they learn you 'didn't capture him'."

I let out a sigh and looked away. "I'm getting really tired of the PRT trying to tell me and other people what to do. I getting to a point where I'm starting not to care what they like."

Lisa actually chuckled at that. After a minute she shook her head and reached into her pocket.

"Well, I'm glad you came to an agreement with Ergo, because we've been working on something together." She pulled out a little device covered in lights.

"What is it?" I asked curiously, moving in to get a closer look.

"A Geiger counter for your magic," she said with a smug look. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Armsmaster had said my magic didn't appear to emit energy," I stated. The memory seemed from so long ago I didn't even remember the details. I did remember being small enough to sit in a chair and having to look up at everyone. I liked being taller.

"It doesn't emit it in any way we've seen before," Lisa explained. "Its actually really complex, but we narrowed down a way." She pressed a button on the side of the device and it began making the familiar sounds of a Geiger counter. She pointed it away from me and then back at me, getting louder the closer it got to me.

"So you two have been able to figure out my magic?" I asked.

"We've been getting closer," Lisa admitted. "But nowhere near the full truth of it."

"Interesting."

"No, what's interesting is this." Lisa reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked like a small gem. She moved her little device towards it and it began to sounds began to tick upwards.

"This is just a small piece of quartz," Lisa explained. "But it's been absorbing you magic like a sponge. Ergo thought you might be able to use it as a battery. I've been thinking you could charge it with an effect like you do the flowers.

"Huh," I said reaching out to take it in my hoof. "I would have never-"

I was cut off by the sound of a muffled explosion coming from downstairs. Lisa's eyes widened considerably.

"That lying bastard," she swore under her breath.

Frankly, that phrase coming from Lisa scared me just a little.

I turned and ran for the basement, stretching my wings as much as I could in the cramped stairway and half gliding all the way down. Lisa was close behind me.

The scene we came onto was a massive hole in the side of the basement, dirt spilling in and the roof catching fire. Ergo and Biohazard were both gone, a single note and two Tinker electric bands left behind in their path. I levitated it out of the dirt and read;

'Explosive appendix :P -Biohazard'

"What?" I asked. "What did they do?"

"They split up and ran away," Lisa said with a scowl. "Ergo with his phase shifter and Biohazard with her flight."

"But he came to me," I started, slamming my hoof against the floor. "He turned himself in. Why would he do that?"

"To make sure you wouldn't chase them," Lisa said bitterly.

That made me pause for a moment. Then I got angry. I might, and that was a heavy 'might', have let them leave the city. I might have been okay with it, if the circumstances were right. And they almost were.

But they came to me for help, attempted to manipulate me, then blew a hole in the side of my house and expected me not to chase them. I felt my magic surge at the thought.

"I'm going after him," I started, flaring my wings widely.

"Taylor," Lisa said, "The house is on fire and the roof is getting ready to collapse. I'm pretty sure they did that on purpose."

I nearly growled as threw magic towards my wings and performed the same vacuum spell I had used on Archer previously. With me controlling the direction, the flames sputtered out without robbing me or Lisa air. I grabbed the house itself next, along with all the dirt and rubble around it. I closed my eyes and attempted to recall what that portion of the wall looked like previously. I felt my magic twitch in a certain direction. I followed it through. It was like telekinesis, as far as I could feel. But it needed something, something to help recombined material. I searched for a moment until I found the right emotion. An odd combination of nostalgia and happy memory itself. I felt the spell click into place and cast it.

When I opened my eyes the wall and building was fixed. I turned around to look at Lisa and saw my Dad fumbling down the steps too.

"What's going on," he asked wearily. I glanced at Lisa and told her,

"Explain it to him, I'm going after them." Before she could answer, I teleported outside and started flying.

* * *

 _Friendshipbond not broken? seems indifferent to fact. Possible Friendship lesson. Possible name 'Frenemy'._

* * *

They were gone. Somehow they disappeared into the night without a trace. When I first left I had caught a little hint of Biohazard smoke trail, but she apparently dived into the bay and was gone. I caught some reports of Ergo's phase shifting around the city, but I had spent too much time chasing Biohazard and he was gone.

If I ever see them again I'm going to… I don't know, drown them in cotton candy or something!

I tried to shake my head clear of the frustration thoughts as I entered my kitchen early the next morning. Hoping to catch some breakfast before heading off to bed to make up some of the sleep I missed.

I paused when I saw Will leaning against the countertop, sandwich halfway raised towards his mouth. He had frozen when he saw me.

We watched each other for a moment. Then he slowly brought the sandwich up and took a bite out of it, not breaking eye contact as he chewed.

"Will?" I asked. "Why aren't you in your cage?"

"You let me out, remember?" Will said with a raised eyebrow. "And then no one thought to put me back, so I've just been hanging around here

"And you made yourself a sandwich?" I said dryly. He shrugged.

"Eh, a guy's gotta eat."

I shook my head at him. He shrugged and took another bite.

"Hey," he said after taking a moment to finish chewing. "I heard you're finally flipping the PRT the bird."

"I wouldn't quite say that," I said slowly.

"I would," Will stated. "They don't do things halfway, if you don't commit to this they'll turn it against you."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused. Will shook his head.

"Alright, take it from a guy whose job it was to fight the PRT's authority. You are either with them or against them, and they don't let you be anything else. If I was going to guess, they probably tried to manipulate you into joining the Wards, and then tried to control you when you didn't."

I opened my mouth to contradict him, but then I remembered what both Piggot and Tagg had done and closed it again. Will nodded with a smug 'that's what I thought' look.

"You fare better than most independents though," Will continued. "You've got power and a fanbase, and that's protected you so far. But the more time you give the PRT to turn PR against you, the sooner you're going to have to make a choice join them or become a villain."

"Other independents exist," I pointed out.

"Other independents aren't the great and powerful Nova," Will countered. "Look, the PRT is a government entity and they really like their control over people. I have no idea what they've done so far, but just knowing them I can tell you that they'll be trying to close their bureaucratic jaws on you the first moment they can. And then you'll either be a villain or a Ward."

"I think there is at least a little bit of wiggle room," I stressed. Will gave a noncommittal shrug.

"Maybe, but not nearly enough room for the great and powerful Nova." Will thought a moment and sighed. "Look, Nova," he began, "I've told Panacea and a few others my story before, but are you aware that I like to think of myself as a hero."

"I've heard of it, but I have my doubts," I responded dryly. Will ignored that bit.

"I think that because I was always loyal to being the best person I could be, no matter what. And because of that, I put my life on the line time and time again to get the information I would eventually give you to take The Sentient down. Regardless of what others think, I was just as much responsible for taking down The Sentient as you."

"What's your point?" I asked.

"My point," Will said, suddenly moving to sit on the countertops as he raised his hands to help illustrate his point. "Is that you want to do good no matter what and you recognize that the PRT is standing in your way some of that time. While you might be able to ignore the PRT, they won't do the same. So you got to make a choice.

"Either you let the PRT control the situation, give them time to paint the all-powerful PR against you, let the noose close around your neck. Or, you take the massive support you have right now, the anti-PRT sentiments you've stoked, and declare the PRT as fake heroes.* Make it clear that you can't trust the PRT. That way, even if the PRT is so bold as to call you a villain after that, it holds no power because everyone will assume they only did it out of spite. People that like you will turn against them, and people that don't like you still won't see you as a villain. You'll be at odds to the PRT, but it'll be in your favour."

He fell silent with his arms held up in a pose. He suddenly realized he was monologuing again and made a face before burying his mouth into his sandwich. I quirked my mouth and thought about it for a good long minute.

He wasn't wrong. Even while locked up in our basement he knew exactly what the PRT had been doing, right down to the threats to my PR Tagg had made last night. And I was extremely annoyed by the PRT, he hit almost every single point. The only thing he missed was the fact that even after purging their ranks of Sentient and rebuilding themselves the PRT was still all about PR. Even trying to get me to do their dirty work for the sake of it. I hated everything they've done recently.

But to declare them as my enemy? That was essentially what Will was saying. I wasn't so sure about doing that, but I could see what he meant. It just had a lot of negative things attached to it I couldn't even begin to fully comprehend. It was rapidly approaching politics. And that was more Will's domain than mine.

"I don't know," I answered noncommittally. "I'm going to talk to Cheshire about it first."

"Alright," Will said with a shrug. "Have fun with that."

I shook my head at him and started walking out of the kitchen. When I got to the door of my room I paused. I thought back to the piece of quartz Lisa had shown me last night.

Maybe I should take some time to really experiment with my power before I go out again.

* * *

A/N:

PRT: Shadow Stalker is a hero now.

Nova: You are fake news.


	48. Learning More

Biohazard crawled out of the ocean, absolutely drenched in water. Ergo was there waiting for her, holding a dry set of skin and hair for her.

"You think it worked," Biohazard asked, moving to start taking off her skin.

"Well enough," Ergo stated. "She did start chasing us, but at the very least she'll be a little more sympathetic if she does catch us again. And it gave you time to move all our stuff, correct?"

"Eyay!" Biohazard said, taking the dry skin out of her brother's outstretched hands and began slipping it on. "Where are we going to run to now?"

"Russia," Ergo stated. "They might actually not mind your… needs."

"Sounds good." She was about to add something else when suddenly, Quantumlock was standing behind them.

"Here's an idea," he said. "Don't do that." Suddenly, he waved his hand down and gravity suddenly increased, throwing them down against the ground and unable to move. Ergo's hand reached for one of his devices, but suddenly a heeled shoe came down and firmly pressed against his wrist.

"Oh, you don't want to do that darling," Showman's voice said above him. "Now look in the camera sweetie." Ergo twisted his head to see Showman pointing his palm outward at him, a little circle glowing brightly. Suddenly, the circle mechanically shift aside and a little nozzle poked out. A second later, his face was getting covered in foam.

Biohazard suddenly felt the gravity effect fall away from her and scrambled to her feet, only to have her wrists and ankles get seized by some green tentacles. She resisted the urge to cry out as she was lifted off the ground and the tendril pulled her wider. Showman turned and looked at her, his simulated face showing a wide smile.

"And you dear," he started, walking forward with exaggerated hip movements. "Your tech has peaked my interest. I've done my best, but sometimes its just better to get the tech from the source." Showman reached into his belt and pulled out a Tinker tool. His smile widened even more. "What little secrets do you have for me, darling? I get the feeling we're going to be good friends."

Showman took a step forward, the Tinkertool sparking as he did so. Biohazard cringed backward to get away from him when a hand appeared on his shoulder. Showman looked to his side and saw Vibrasonic standing next to him, shaking her head silently. Showman let out a sigh and lower the tool.

"You're right," he said, before immediately perking up again. "Take them to The Lair," he declared, raising a hand in the air, "we're having a party!"

* * *

"Hey Amy," Victoria said, knocking on the door frame as the door was wide open. Amy blinked and looked up from her project, an oak tree the size and style of a Bonsai tree, only with a little door grown into the side.

"Oh, hey Victoria," Amy said with a touch of trepidation creeping into her voice. Victoria made a face when she heard it, but decided not to mention it.

"You got a letter," she said, holding up the envelope for her to see.

"Oh thanks," Amy raised her hand from where she was sitting and a vine crawled out of her sleeve, stretching across the room and plucking the letter out of her hand. Victoria raised an eyebrow at her.

"Hey, if I'm not allowed to fly in the house, you can't make super vines."

"Oh, sorry," Amy said, flinching inwardly as she realized what she did. "It's gotten so second nature to me."

"Yeah, we've noticed," Victoria replied dryly. "And in a roundabout way, I sort of want to talk to you about that."

Amy frowned at her even as she started opening the letter. She was about to answer when she opened the note and her eyes goggled at what she saw. Her jaw fell open and she froze.

"What," Victoria asked, flying across the room to look over her sister's shoulder, completely oblivious to the irony from her previous statement. In Amy's hand was a check from one of the companies she and Nova had given the magic plants to. A check for twenty-five thousand dollars. Victoria whistled.

"That is more than just a little money," she stated, impressed.

"That's a bit of an understatement," Amy replied.

"I thought there was still a few months before they could come out with the potions?"

"This company can afford bioTinkers, they probably accelerated their growth to get a jump on the market."

"Well, if you're not cheating you're not trying, I guess."

Amy turned around a grinned at Victoria. "Think you could fly me to the bank?"

Victoria fixed her with a flat look.

"Can we talk first?"

Amy's look soured.

"Can we do it on the way?"

Victoria quirked her mouth to the side. "Fine," she compromised. She walked over to the window, pushing Amy's pet tree to the side and opening it widely before floating out. She righted herself and turned around, holding her arms out for Amy. Amy went forward with practiced motions, crawling out the window and practically falling into her sister's grip. Immediately, Victoria began flying upwards.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Amy asked uncomfortably once they were high enough. Victoria was flying at a leisure pace, like walking but in the air.

"Nova," she stated. "And you."

"Oh."

Victoria let out a sigh and shook her head. "Look," she began, "I know we've fought a couple times recently, and I guess that a little bit my fault but I don't want to fight you, Amy." Victoria paused and looked at her. Amy stayed silent.

"I know you feel Mom has it out for you, and I'm not going to try to tell you otherwise, but you know that I don't, right?" Amy nodded her head stiffly. Victoria took it as a win and smiled. "Good, cuz I'm supposed to look out for you, and if you think Mom is really doing those things, I'll help you."

"... Promise?" Amy asked.

"Promise. Just quit running away and hiding from me and the others."

"Alright," Amy said with a nod. "I can do that."

"Great," Victoria said, a full smile growing on her face for the first time today. "Now I'm really excited to see you becoming an action fighting hero, but you gotta start letting me come with you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Amy stated with as much false nonchalance as she could. Victoria raised an eyebrow at her.

"Really? Alright then… Flower Knight."

Amy shot Victoria a look, making her grin.

"There is one more thing, though," Victoria said. "And it's Nova. I was thinking you could be New Wave's go-between? It's been really hard to stay on the same page as her, and she is all over the place. It's driving everyone nuts. You think you can help us with that?"

Amy shrugged her shoulders as best she could in the way she was being held. "I guess so, it would be nice to spend more time with Nova too."

"Sure."

They were silent for a long moment after that until Victoria finally said,

"Was that the entire conversation? That's all we needed to say these last few weeks?"

"I guess, yeah," Amy admitted.

"Wow, we are dysfunctional."

"Pretty much."

* * *

Vista watched carefully as Phlegm, the Merchant Tinker Team Vigil had caught, ran down the alley. Miss Militia seemed too busy fighting Needle and Black Tar to notice him escaping. That left two Merchant capes unaccounted for, Whirlygig and Choker.

Vista glanced at Arsenal beside her on the roof and silently asked if she was ready by jerking her head in Phlegm's direction. Arsenal brought out a taser gun and a cattle prod in the other and nodded with a grin. Vista grinned back and shrank the distance between them and the Tinker on the ground.

Together they took a step off the roof and suddenly they were in front of the villain.

Phlegm wore a thick pair of glasses and a dirty bandana over the lower half of his face. Normally he would have worn some Tinker armour but having just escaped from his cell, all he had was two tiny little guns Black Tar had given him.

Immediately he raised the guns and fired them. Vista bent space around her so that the beams wouldn't hit, but they didn't' seem aimed at them. The two beams hit the brick wall of the building to their left and the concrete beneath them, leaving behind holes large enough to stick an arm through.

Suddenly, armour began to grow around him. Seemingly liquid concrete and brick flowing over his body. Arsenal raised her taser gun and fired, but the prongs bounced uselessly off his new rocky exterior.

Vista stretched space again and grabbed on to Arsenal's shoulder, pulling her back as she put some distance between them and the Tinker.

"You got something for that?" Vista asked, as soon as they were a safe distance away. Arsenal quirked her mouth a moment and answered with,

"Nothing that would keep him alive very long. And I only have so much chlorine trifluoride, not exactly easy to get or store."

At that moment, the shadow of a nearby building bulge outward and a black serpent-like appendage shot forward and wrapped around Vista's neck before she realized what was happening. Arsenal responded immediately, pressing a button on her cattle prod that caused it begin to shift and change. In a second, it looked like a little grenade that Arsenal tossed at the shadow where Choker's snake arm was coming out of.

When the flash bang went off it completely disintegrated the snake arm, leaving a man standing alone in the alley as he held on to his damaged eyes. Vista closed the distance between them, literally, and threw her weight into a stomp kick right into his chest, sending the man reeling.

Turning back towards Phlegm she saw Arsenal attempting to slow him down with containment foam grenades. But his Tinker beams ate through it just as much as it had the brick of the buildings.

Vista paused for a moment and considered her options. After a second, she reached forward and plucked a taser off Arsenal's belt. She probably wouldn't miss it.

Vista jumped upward, stretching space so she landed on top of the nearest building. She ran forward and jumped off the side, landing on the ground behind Phlegm. It put her between him and Needle, but so long as Miss Militia kept her occupied she probably wouldn't bother Vista in the alley.

She took a moment to measure her strike, and when she says an opening she launched forward. Burying the prongs of the taser in an uncovered area behind him where he didn't seem to think to cover. Phlegm seized up immediately and fell forward, collapsing on the ground.

"Sweet," Arsenal said, clapping her hands together cheerfully.

"Give me handcuffs," Vista said, "And then go take care of Choker, make sure he can't sneak up on us."

"The taser is also handcuffs," Arsenal said, half running half skipping the other direction. "Just press the button!"

Vista looked down at the taser. It was Tinkertech, not very high quality, but Tinker tech none the less. After a moment, she found the button and the device began shifting in her hands. She wasn't quite sure where she was supposed to hold on to it as it changed, so she just kept her palm open and let it take its course.

Eventually, it finished on a fancy looking pair of handcuffs. Vista considered them a moment, making sure they still worked like normal handcuffs, before slapping them on Phlegm's wrists. She reached into a little pouch on her costume and brought out the little capsules the PRT had given to her beforehand. Carefully as she could, she took out two little pills and broke the seals, dropping them on Phlegm where his arms were near his body. For a moment, nothing happened, Then the pills released containment foam that began rapidly expanding around his limbs, pinning his arms to his side.

At that moment, Arsenal skipped back up to her and shrugged.

"Choker left, I have seen him since I flashed him."

"Damn," Vista swore. It would have been nice to get two villains at once, but one would have to do.

"Hey, sweet takedown on him," Arsenal said. "Do you do that a lot?"

"No, not really," Vista admitted. "The PRT doesn't like me getting that hands on most of the time. Normally I would just keep him from escaping, hinder his movements and whatnot, among a few other tricks."

"Well, that's dumb."

"Yeah," Vista sighed. "It's going to suck when I have to go back to the Wards."

"Why go back?" Arsenal asked curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"If the PRT doesn't let you do things, why go back at all? Nova says all the PRT cares about is their image."

"Well, she isn't completely wrong," Vista admitted. "But I'm already part of the Wards, I can't just stop now. And Nova's New Wave, so she can do things we can."

"Oh…" Arsenal said, racking her brain with thought. After a minute, something clicked for her.

"Hey, I'm independent!" She pretty much cheered. "You think Nova and I could be a team?"

"I'm pretty sure Nova already have a team," Vista pointed out.

"Yeah, but I bet they can't make handcuff tasers."

Vista smile and rolled her eyes. "What is it you like about Nova anyway?"

Behind her mask, Arsenal's eyes widened immensely.

"What isn't to like about her? She big, and powerful, and fluffy, and has magic, is powerful, a unicorn, part of New Wave, and powerful, and can fly, and teleport, and is really, really powerful. What's not to like?" Arsenal's smile widened into a full grin.

"Who wouldn't give their right arm to get the chance to help her? It would be the greatest thing in the world, in the universe!"

"That's… great, I guess." Vista said skeptically. Arsenal tilted her head at her curiously.

"I bet if you dropped out of the Wards and joined Nova they'd let you do it because she's so awesome."

Vista glanced down at the Merchant cape a moment and then back up at Arsenal.

"I doubt it," she replied.


	49. A Little Concerned

Brute pulled the Lamborghini up to the coffee shop as per Troll's instructions. The cars on either side of them were also some sort of fancy sports car, but there was honestly so many expensive cars around this area that it was impossible to keep track of.

Troll got out of his car and looked at the coffee shop, pausing and considering it for a long moment. Brute climb out of the car and looked at him oddly.

"Seriously tho," Brute began, perhaps going a touch too strong on the British accent, "How can you afford a car like this? And keep it in a parkin' garage for a year?"

Troll cast him a sideways grin and said, "I'm really good at Russian Roulette." Troll looked back toward the shop and took a deep breath before taking a step forward. "Come on, let's get going."

The moment Troll opened the door to the coffee shop everyone's eye gravitated to him. Between the upper-class way he was dressed and Brute looking like a security officer behind him, people quickly started looking the other way.

Troll walked up to the counter with a happy smile on his face and was about to say something when his eyes caught something. A wall of photos, like the way truck stop restaurants, might take for the customer that could eat their ridiculously portioned steak or burger. One photo, in particular, got his attention. It was older, featuring a group of fourteen-year-olds. The one in the center Troll recognized as himself with his arms draped over two girls. One was short, blonde with the ends dyed and she dressed scantily. The other was taller than he was with long curly black hair that went halfway down her back. She had a wide smile and large brown eyes. She dressed a lot more conservatively.

Another guy had his hand resting the brown haired girl's shoulder. He was tall with a heavy frame that could have either been muscle or fat but was impossible to tell under his shirt. He was a little older than the others, beginning in his early twenties. He was grinning too and had matching brown hair with the girl.

"Did you need something, sir?" The barista asked. Troll suddenly snapped back to reality and realized he had been staring at the photo for a few awkward moments.

"Uh, yeah," Troll stuttered for a moment as he tried to get his mind in order. "Could I- actually could I have that photo?" Troll pointed at the one he meant. The barista turned around and gave it an odd look.

"That one has been here for years." She said as she walked over to the board and took the photo down, giving it a critical look. "Is this one you?" She pointed to the teenager in the middle, the one with his arms around the other two girls.

"It used to be." Troll answered honestly. The barista smiled warmly and handed the photo over to him. Troll took it and give it one last look before making it look like he was sliding it into a pocket as he slid it into his inventory.

"Is there anything else?"

"Yes," Troll said, getting back on track. "I'm here to walk the trail of patriots." The barista's expression suddenly changed. She fell silent and pressed a button underneath the counter. Without another word or even looking him in the eye, she motioned Troll and Brute to follow her as she headed for a door behind her. Troll followed closely behind her, but Brute hesitated for a moment. After a second he followed them both into the back room.

"Troll!" A man said cheerfully, approaching Troll with an outstretched hand. He was a little tall, and had vague Middle Eastern heritage. He wore a white thobe like Troll

"Maverick!" Troll answered, taking his hand and pulling Maverick closer into a tight hug.

"It has been too long my friend!" Maverick said as he broke away.

"You keep saying that," Troll answered with a grin, "And when this is over I'm sure we can get a beer. But it sounds like we have a problem." The smile on Maverick's face dropped just a little. He took a few steps away from Troll and waved his hand through the air.

"Of course. But before we go further, who is your friend?" Maverick looked Brute over critically.

"Oh," Troll said dismissively, "He is just some super muscle in case I need it." Maverick looked him over even more critically.

"Anything special?"

Troll shook his head. "Not really, for all intensive purposes, he just has basic super strength."

"He won't be able to stop Leoni."

"I don't expect him to." Troll answered swiftly. "We're just going to make sure nothing goes wrong while Trail does The Job, and if something does then we'll pull her out and let Leoni think she's dead." Maverick considered that for a moment then sighed. He turned and started walking towards a table that had stacks of papers and files spread out across it.

"I suppose that is the best I can hope for my daughter." Maverick began selectively pulling out papers out of the mess on the table and putting them into an empty file. "Here is everything I have on The Job." Maverick walked back over and held out the completed file to Troll.

"Maverick, we spent two years of our lives learning the ins and outs of The Job. You really think I would have forgotten any of it."

Maverick shrugged. "Security systems have updated, powers have changed hands, new targets were added to the list. And it doesn't hurt to brush up." Accepting this, Troll took the file from him and paused for a moment. Slowly, Troll asked,

"If Leoni thinks that now is the time to start this, does that mean Trail…?"

"Has powers, yes." Maverick finished a little sourly. "Your Protectorate would call her a Master. She can infect up to five people with an idea."

"An idea?" Brute suddenly cut in, forgetting to put on his British accent. Maverick didn't seem to notice.

"Yes, an idea. Euphoria, vertigo, paranoia, violence, insomnia, servitude, religion, pacifism. Any number of basic concepts or established idea structures Trail can infect a person. The effect takes days to a weak to gain full power, but at the end of that you are left with nothing but a shred of personality and almost all of that idea."

"That…" Troll began, "... Would make The Job a lot easier." Brute looked at him harshly, but Troll ignored him. "So, what stage is Trail in right now?"

"Second stage," Maverick answered. "She's infiltrating the monuments as we speak." Troll nodded and shifted the file underneath his arm. He held out a hand to Maverick and offer a light smile.

"It's good to be working with you again, we'll do everything we can for your daughter." Maverick smiled and took Troll's hand.

"Good to have you back, and good luck on your mission. You'll need it." Troll nodded and turned towards the door. He made it about three steps when Maverick called after him.

"Troll, wait!" Troll turned with an eyebrow raised to see Maverick approaching him with an enclosed fist held out to him. "Throne wanted you to have this, we found it in her stuff after you left."

Troll held out his hand and Maverick deposited a stylized capital letter 'T' made of gold hanging from a silver chain. Troll stared at it for a few moments, running his thumb across the smooth surface.

"Thank you." Troll murmured quietly. Then, without another word Troll spun on his heel and started walking out the door, slipping the necklace into his pocket.

"I think you have a lot to explain." Brute said as he and Troll climbed back into the car, this time remembering to put on his British accent.

"Maybe," Troll answered noncommittally. "Head that way," Troll said pointing his finger. "We need to get to Saudi Arabia." Brute shook his head and started the car, heading the way Troll indicated.

"Like that, why are we going to Saudi Arabia?"

"Because that's where Trail is." Troll answered bluntly. "She'll also be heading to Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan."

"Alright, start there." Brute commanded in his Russian accent. "You talk about 'The Job' you talk about a guy named Leoni, you talk about knowing Maverick for long time, I saw picture of you on the board when you were young. What is going on?"

Troll took a long time to answer. He pulled the necklace out of his pocket and began running his thumb over the surface idly as he thought. After a few minutes of waiting for an answer, Troll finally spoke up.

"Brute, do you think all cultures are equal?" Brute paused for a moment before answering.

"No, of course not."

"Right," Troll continued. "There are so many cultures the perpetuate oppression, rape, hatred, and all many of terrible things. These are cultures that shouldn't be tolerated, that shouldn't be allowed, shouldn't be treated kindly. And here we are, in the heartland of it all." Brute cast Troll a sidelong glance.

"Vhat are you saying."

"A few years before the first capes started appearing on the scene a large group of individuals gathered together and decided that they were tired of western countries that tolerated these cultures and ideas. The moved to the Middle East and start spreading their influence, gaining power, planning, waiting, growing. All with the ultimate goal of completing The Job."

"What is The Job?" Troll took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, his idly play with the necklace becoming a little more rough.

"It's where they take over the Middle East and force them to take their freedom, whether they like it or not."

"Yeah Queen, we'll be back in a couple of days," I said.

"Okaaaay," Queen groaned in disappointment. I heard gunfire through the phone. Was she calling me during a firefight? Actually, that wasn't as surprising as I thought it might. She has done weirder things.

"Just be careful and come back soon, then we'll have pancakes!" There was at least one explosion punctuating that sentence and more than one person their best impression of the Wilhelm scream.

"We better have more than that," I answered suggestively. Queen giggled on the other end.

"Oh silly, of course, we will. But I have to go, shiny capes are here now."

I smirked. "Alright then, try not to kill too many people."

"I make no promises" Queen chirped before hanging up the phone. I clicked my own shut before heaving a sigh.

"You're nervous." Tenant observed as he floated into my vision. He was using the cane again today. I'd seen him use a yo-yo and a big bouncing ball, but recently it was the cane he seemed to stick to.

'Oh, brilliant insight.' I thought sarcastically. Of course, I was nervous, Alex had been in there for-

"Not about Alex." Tenant stated, cutting off that line of thought. I kept forgetting he could hear idle thoughts. "You're nervous in general, and it weighing down on you." Tenant began pacing the room, not even looking at me anymore.

'By all means Dr. Tenant, what complex issues does my mind and subconscious have that you shall so brilliant shed light upon?'

"Well for one," Tenant began, completely ignoring my sarcasm, "This over-arcing plan you have set in motion is weighing on you. You know it will take almost all four years to get every you will need together, you know how much danger you're in, and worst of all you know the likelihood you of you might die."

I wanted to deny it because it didn't sound right, but it did feel right, I just didn't want to admit it. And after all, Tenant would know my mind better than me, so denying anything was pointless.

"Then there is the fact that you woke up after what was apparently a two-day power induced coma to find that only Jess was still around. Queen was stealing things, Troll and Brute were halfway across the world, and Alex was nowhere to be found. Point two on your nervousness.

"And finally Alex is furiously searching for a girl you fear he still has a torch for."

'And why exactly do I fear that?' I asked a little defensively. Tenant rolled his eyes at me in response.

"Because you find him attractive, obviously."

'Physically," I countered, 'And I find a lot of people physically attractive.'

"Believe me, I know."

'That doesn't explain why I would fear Alex going after someone he might still like.'

Tenant sighed. "You actually have a lot to unpack in that category. You-"

'I'm going to stop you right there,' I interrupted, holding up my hand despite this being a mental conversation. "You're going to blow this whole thing out of proportion. I am a little nervous. Scion is destroying the world in four years and there is still so much to do, I think I'm entitled to being a little nervous. Anything else is just… stuff." I said it with a wave of my hand. 'Normal, everyday stuff.'

Tenant frowned at me, shifting his stance so both hands rested on his cane. "I know you think I like to pick apart your psychy for fun, because I do, but there is another reason why I do this. If I make you aware of exactly how you feel then you can and will avoid making some basic mistakes in that regard. I make it so you can completely avoid internal conflict with yourself and your team. But you-" Tenant pointed his cane at me harshly, "-don't want to listen."

I shook my head at him. 'Because there is nothing to listen to. I know I'm nervous. I know Alex is really sexy. And there is nothing strange about either of those things. Therefore, nothing to talk about."

Tenant studied me for a long moment, looking me up and down critically. I briefly wondered if that was somehow representative of what he was doing to my mind.

"Fine," Tenant said with a wave of his hand. "If you want these emotions to pile up, that's on you." He snapped his fingers and suddenly his body disappeared, leaving me alone in the hallway of the apartment building.

Five minutes later Alex stepped out of the apartment he had been in. Canary's ex-boyfriend's apartment. I didn't miss the blood on both of Alex's fists.

"Do you find out anything?" I asked him, my concern creeping into my voice. Alex glance at me for a moment. He reached up and crush some blood off his cheek with the back of his sleeve.

"He didn't know anything new," he said harshly, not even bothering to use sign language. "She told him to go fuck himself, he did, then Canary went to trial where she got a much harsher sentence than she should have."

Go to the judge… break his arms and legs…. Ask him why, ask him if he remembers

Alex's thoughts floated into my mind. I had been getting good at the whole telepathy thing, but it really only worked with what people thought about in passing. If Alex had thought of that before coming out of the room I probably wouldn't have heard it.

"So we go to the judge next, I suppose," I said a little nonchalantly as I watched his reaction. "Maybe you could not beat him to death?"

"I didn't beat this one to death," Alex answered.

But he probably wished I had.

I pursed my lips. "Fine, just be careful Alex." Alex nodded stiffly and pushed past me, leading the way out of the building. We made our way to the parking lot where Alex possessed a motorcycle we had found. I slid my leg over it and whipped out my phone as Alex willed the machine to turn on. A quick search and I found the judge we were looking for. Canary had been a high profile case, the media had covered all of the important details, including the judge that gave her the sentence to put her in the birdcage.

Telling Alex where to go, we were off. It was a little awkward at first, as Alex drove the motorcycle down the abandoned roads in the early morning before the sun had even come up. Alex seemed to notice it too, because after a few minutes he turned the radio on. Some sort of classic rock band. Why was I not surprised?

When we arrived I slid off the bike and looked up at the courthouse. The lights were on in the upper windows, telling me that some of the judges were here. With any luck, our guy was here and we wouldn't have to wait. It would really suck if he had today off. Do judges get days off? Ah, whatever, it doesn't matter.

Alex floated out of the bike and looked up at the building with me, searching the windows.

"You go up there and see if you can find him," I told him. "Then you wave down to me so I know which window to jump to. I want to join you for this one." Alex looked at me for a moment before shrugging. He floated upwards and disappeared for a few moment, leaving me alone for a minute.

While I waited, I took a moment to collect my thoughts. While I didn't want Tenant to go off on some tangent about whatever feeling I was subconsciously or consciously having, there was a lot more going on here and I didn't like it. Alex had beaten the last guy half to death and seemed perfectly calm while doing it. I know I don't have much ground to stand on, but I was generally more conservative about mercilessly brutalizing someone. And even on the off chance I did, I at least had a reason or was upset. But Alex seemed calm, and if I didn't know about the fact that he was internally seething in anger about Canary, I would have pegged him as at least a little sociopathic.

I was worried for him, I knew. Mostly because Tenant had seemed really stuck on that emotion in particular. But there was really only one solution, and I was already doing it. Help him through it, be there for him. That's what I had done with Queen and it led to, well, everything. The Paranorms and everything else. So I really had no choice but to follow and support Alex, no matter where this rabbit hole leads us. I just hoped he'll be better at the end of this, because I don't like the alternative.

Alex poked his head out of the wall and waved at me before pointing at an open window. With a brief flex of my power, I was able to jump to the ledge and swing into the room.

The first thing I had noticed was the older man looking terrified in his chair and judge robes. He had a name tag on his desk stating his name, Peter Regan.

The second thing I noticed was Alex approaching the judge with a knife drawn. Before I could stop him, Alex backhanded the judge hard enough that wizened man nearly fell out of his chair. Alex caught him by the wrist before he did and slammed his hand against his desk. The knife quickly followed, impaling the judge's hand into the table. The judge cried out. I silently hoped this room was sound proof.

"Paige Mcabee, stage name Canary, do you remember her?" Alex hissed into the judge's ear. Peter Regan nodded quickly in between whimpers.

"Good," Alex continued, "Now tell me, why was her sentencing so high? Alex paused and waited for the judge's answer. He stayed silent. Alex started to twist the knife.

"I was paid!" Regan gasped painfully.

"By who?!" Alex practically shouted. I stepped forward and put a hand on Alex's shoulder.

"Alex, that is enough," I said sternly. He brushed my hand off hand and flat out told me,

"No."

"Alex," I said a little harsher this time, grabbing his shoulder again. This time squeezing a little bit.

"Fuck off Riza!" Alex said, trying my hand off his shoulder with ever looking away from the judge. "I will do this-" He was cut off as I grabbed him and threw him across the room, straight through a wall into the next room, my power assisting.

"Last I checked," I growled at him acidly, "I was the leader of the team. Not you. And you already beat a guy to near death, I'm not going to let you brutally mutilate an old man! Do you fucking understand?"

Alex rose out of the rubble and brushed himself off. He looked up at me angrily and I glared at him, putting every venomous ounce of my own anger into it. Alex quickly nodded stiffly and looked away, unable to match my gaze.

"Good," I stated. "Now, go use your power to scare off any security while I deal with the judge." Alex floated out of the room without saying anything. The moment he was gone I looked back to the judge and glance at the wound briefly.

I reached in between my breasts and pulled out one of the shurikens I kept hidden around them and used the sharp edge to cut away a strip of cloth from the judge's robe. He flinched away as I did so. Once I had a long enough cloth I pull out the knife Alex had stuck in the guy's hand before wrapping the makeshift bandage around it.

"Thank you," Regan murmured quietly as I worked.

"Sure," I responded, finishing it up by pulling the cloth tight. Hopefully, that would do. "I don't like to make a habit of killing people, particularly old men. My friend though… he is going through a tough time. Which leaves the question, who did buy you out to give Canary a sentence to the Birdcage? From what I hear Dragon herself wanted you to redact the sentence, so what gives?"

The old judge licked his lips once. "I don't know her name, but some woman going by the name of The Porter. Maybe parahuman. She said she had a client that wanted Canary away and to stay away."

"How much did you get paid?" I asked, more out of curiosity than any actual need.

Regan shook his head. "Not in money, not outright anyway. I was paid in artwork, something I could sell later." He pointed with his good hand behind him. I looked up.

He had a large decorative cabinet that displayed his degrees and lifetime achievements. There were some newspaper clippings of old cases that got resolved, some of them were decades old. One of them was shown one of the very first cape related cases in the US. In the very center of the cabinet, on it own little pedestal with its own little spotlight, was a foot tall statue.

It was made of gold, silver, and what I guessed were diamonds from their colour. It was Apollo, riding a chariot of flame, pulling on the reins with his mouth. He carried an archer bow in one hand and some sort of lute in the other. I picked it up gently to find it surprisingly light for its size and the amount of gold.

"It is part of a set," Regan said, "I was told that it used to be apart of a complete pantheon of gods, and if you had all of them it might be worth several billion dollars. Alone though, a few million. More than enough to retire on in a few years."

"Any idea how I would find The Porter?" I asked without taking my eyes away from the statue. I was completely enamored with the amount of detail that went into the little statue. The gold made most of the flames, but each crevice was given a little bit of silver in it to make it seem as if the flame really shone brightly.

"She works out of the warehouse district," Regan said, "If you show up at exactly midnight and walked around one of the buildings six times she'll know you're there for business. That's how I was paid."

"Thank you," I said as I turned and walked towards the door, the statue still in hand.

"Wait, you're not leaving with that are you?"

I lifted the statute a little closer to my chest and glared back at him. "This was used to get you to sentence an innocent young girl to a lifetime in the Birdcage over a little mistake you know she didn't have a lot of control over. You don't deserve this. Enjoy your retirement." I slammed the door behind me on the way out.


	50. A Very Concerned Now

They had driven in silence for much of the way. Getting into Saudi Arabia was an off and on process. Most of the time they would simply look at Troll in his Islamic robes and they would let him pass. Other times they would spy Brute and stop them. The car they were in tended to attract a lot of attention. But a word from Troll, who apparently spoke the language, about a pilgrimage to Mecca and they were on their way again.

"So," Brute said after several hours of silence and now that the sun was beginning to go down. "Is there anything else you would like to tell me about this… group."

Troll shrugged. "What do you want to know?"

"Their name." Brute answered. "Why is this girl is named Trail when it doesn't have anything to do with her power? What is 'The Job'? Who is this Leoni and why do you say I can't beat him."

Troll took a deep breath and heaved a heavy sigh. He pulled out the necklace again and start running his thumb over it like he had some sort of nervous tick. "They call themselves New Sparta because they believe regressive politics are making the western world weak and that they should return to a society with the strength and unity of Sparta."

"Seems… a little extreme." Brute mumbled. "And Spartans were not nice people, yaes."

Troll snorted. "And you think they are? They whole reason they call themselve new Sparta is because they are about as brutal of them. Make a little worse because of the fact that they want to use this brutality to enforce fundamental Western ideas."

"How does that work?"

"It would look like them giving the freedom of speech and the right to vote to the Middle East and if anyone attempts to infringe of those rights they would get publicly whipped." Troll said rather nonchalantly, like it was a small oddity he casually noticed. Brute frowned.

"I suppose," Brute continued, "Then what of this Trail girl? Why Trail?"

"Our names aren't cape names," Troll answered him a little defensively. "Trail's father is Maverick, her mother is Path, and her grandfather was Hiker. They're codenames, passed down through the family."

Brute raised an eyebrow at him. "And you had one of these too?"

Troll nodded. "My father was Minotaur, my mother was Scylla, and my grandfather was Cyclops. Troll meant something very different back then."

Brute was silent for a few moments to see if he would continue. When he didn't, Brute asked, "And the others? Throne?"

The moment he said the name Troll stopped running his finger over the necklace and started gripping it in his fist. "Throne was Maverick's half sister," Troll said numbly, staring blankly forward as his eyes glazed over. "Her father was Crown and her mother was Diadem before Crown died and she remarried Maverick's brother Climber who changed his name to Crook when they got married."

"What is the point of all these names and why do you know the family lines to the grandparents?"

"The the great grandparents," Troll corrected, "Where applicable. And the families are important because a lot of status and weight goes around depending on your name. I mentioned before I large group of individuals came together to for New Sparta, well that wasn't quite true. It was eight families, families that took on different themes for their code names. The Trail Blazers, The Monsters, The Symbols of Power, The Gems, The Achievements, The Advancements, The Ideas, and the people in charge of it all, The Leaders."

"So Leoni…" Brute began as he slowly connected the different names he had already heard with what Troll was saying.

"Is named after Leonidas," Troll finished. "His father was Alexander, his mother Oracle, and his grandfather Bismark. He is the current leader of New Sparta."

"Do you just say these things on reflex?"

"I might."

Brute fell silent for a few moments after that, but it didn't last. Only two minutes later he asked his next question.

"What is The Job, Troll, and why is it so dangerous that we came halfway across the world just to babysit these man's little girl to make sure The Job gets done?"

"The Job is the goal of New Sparta," Troll answered without hesitation. "It is the mission they spent the last three decades preparing and planning for. It is everything New Sparta is."

"And what is that?" Brute asked, already regretting what he was about to hear.

"It is a several step plan meant to be undertaken by the best child soldier New Sparta produces."

" _Child_ soldier?"

Troll nodded as if that was a normal thing to ask. "We start training at the age of eight and we are ready for field missions at fourteen. Women and children make some of the best undercover operatives."

Brute's frowned deepened. "Keep going, more about The Job."

"The first part is discrediting a number of leaders and figureheads." Troll answered as he took out the file Maverick gave him. "And it looks like Trail's power let her do a good job of it. If I had to guess she infected each one with paranoia a couple of days ago. The all broke down earlier today, a freak accident they are calling it. Only issue is that now she has less than forty-eight hours to get the next three steps complet."

"And what are those steps?" Brute asked with a hint of annoyance at the fact he to keep promoting him.

"Planting bombs on and around Mecca, the burial ground of Muhammad, and at least five other holy sites. Then it is on to assassinating key people so that when the fourth step is put into place none of the other countries are capable of retaliating.

"The fourth step," Troll paused for a moment, "is using the Weapons of Mass Destruction these Middle Eastern countries have been stock piling to destroy large areas across the Middle East to take out the resistance before it becomes a problem, letting New Sparta claim this part of the world as their own under one banner."

Brute slammed on the breaks and nearly threw Troll out of his seat. Lucky they were the only car on the road. When the vehicle had finished jerking to a stop Brute looked over at Troll harshly. Slowly, with a dangerous tone, Brute said,

"We are going to stop them, yaes?"

Troll raised an eyebrow at him. "Why would we want to?"

"Troll, they are going to kill millions of people."

Troll shrugged and looked away. "Millions of people have already died in the name of freedom, I know I have."

"Troll, these people are looking to destroy Islamic culture because they disagree with it."

"No," Troll said flatly, "They are looking to destroy Islamic culture because its idea are dangerous, radical, oppressive, misogynistic, heathenish, and two thousand years out of date. They will support freedom of religion to the bitter end, but they won't tolerate the oppressive culture. _I_ won't tolerate the oppressive culture. It comes at a great sacrifice," Troll stared into Brute's eye challengingly, "but it is the right thing to do. And I think you know it."

Brute glowered at him, but fell silent. He squeezed his fingers over the steering wheel and thought about it. Troll turned forward and started running his thumb over the necklace again, his vision clouding over as he got lost in thought.

After ten minutes of silence, Brute took his foot off the petal and they began moving again.

"I don't see how the murder of millions of people is the right thing," Brute mumbled. "I have weilders for this, to tell me what I need to do."

"That makes it easier for you," Troll murmured into his hand as he thumbed the necklace. "The rest of us have to live with our choice to kill millions."

"Is that what this is?" Brute asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

"No," Troll said after a long pause. "It's about supporting my family."

"Your family?" Brute asked. He would have been more surprised if he wasn't feeling the way he was.

"Yes, every single person in New Sparta was a brother and sister. As a group, they are my family."

"Then why did you leave? If they were your family and you support their goals, why did you leave?"

Troll waited a long time before answering, he thumb frozen over the surface of the necklace.

"Because," Troll began, "I didn't want to do it any more." Brute didn't have anything to say to that, so he remained silent. After a few tense seconds Troll continued.

"When you turn fourteen you go on your first mission, a right of path in a sense. Topaz, Throne, and I were all in the same class and age group. We worked as a team since we were eight. We knew everything about each other, with Maverick as our team over seer.

"But then everything went wrong, Maverick was arrested, Topaz was shot, Throne was beheaded, and I fell down a well. As I tried to climb out, again, and again, and again, I realized something. That I didn't want this life. That I didn't want to spend every waking second of every waking day plotting and fighting to give freedom to a country that just didn't want it. Several hours later when my arms were too tired and I couldn't keep my eyes open, I swore that I wouldn't live that life. And then I drowned. Then I came back to life and I left, off to go live in the country which was the home of the values I had been taught to fight for." Troll sighed and slipped the necklace back into his pocket and turned his head to look out the window as the desert sped past them.

"And now I'm back," Troll finished. "Here to see things through to the end."

I barely even registered as I walked around the warehouse for the sixth time, I wouldn't have at all if Tenant wasn't there to remind me. I was aware the moment an unknown person entered the space behind me as a shadow within my sphere of influence. Reflexively, my fourth mind attempted to scan their thoughts.

' _Surprise,'_ was what I heard before a whirled around to face them.

I was met with a tall woman in black pants and white dress coat with a tall collar accented with a white neck scarf tucked inside of the coat. She carried a red, white, and gray parasol that was closed and used as a cane. On top of a mop of bright orange hair she wore a bowler hat with a red strip across it. Though what really caught me was her eyes. Her right eye was dark green and her left a bright yellow only covered in a red and white domino mask, all framed with a warm smile that seemed to be her resting expression.

"Well, you're not dressed like someone looking for my kind of services." The Porter said as prodded the end of my dress with her parasol. Suddenly she spun the fancy umbrella around and caught the handle of the briefcase I was carrying with the curve hook of the parasol handle, yanking the briefcase out of my hand.

"And the briefcase is empty," she noted before tossing it casually aside and leveled her gaze at me. "So you didn't come here for my services, you came for me." She grinned widely. "So, which one of your loved ones have I cheated, imprisoned, caused an accident, or otherwise inconvenienced?"

"Not one of mine," I answered with a smug tone. "One of his." Suddenly, Reaper popped up out of the ground and wrapped threw a rope around The Porter before turning solid and pulling the rope tight.

"Oh for gods sake," Porter said with a roll of her eyes. Suddenly she was gone and the rope fell to the ground without her in it. I was aware of her reappearing behind me.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, That is some sloppy work." Porter chastised us with a smug grin. "Now, if you want to have this conversation like adults, I'd be happy to listen. Or you can keep trying to capture me, your choice."

I looked at Reaper and he looked back. I couldn't see his expression through the mask, but I didn't need to. I heard his thoughts.

' _Don't think we have much of a choice.'_ I nodded and accepted that answer, turning back towards Porter.

"Someone paid you to make sure that a friend of our went to the Birdcage." I stated. Porter tilted her head at me and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? I do a lot of those, you're going to have to be more specific Little Miss Short-Skirt."

Skirt? This was clearly a dress. Stretched lower than my knee and everything, only the cut along the right side of it giving the range of motion I need. Did she give me an incorrect nickname just to annoy me? I think she gave me an incorrect nickname just to annoy me. Well fuck you too Miss Give-Incorrect-Nicknames-Just-To-Annoy-Me! Why, I-

"Tsundere-" Tenant interrupted while he rubbed his temple. "Shut up, focus."

'Oh, right," I thought hastily.

"This one was paid for with a golden statue of Apollo." I declared for her. The Porter tapped her chin in thought.

"Hmm, I think I remember that one. The Canary girl right? Yes, I'm sure of it. That statue was a wonderful work of art, I'm sure I would have never forgotten that."

"Then who paid you?" Alex said angrily, taking a step forward in her direction. Porter raised an eyebrow at him and then suddenly she was gone again. This time, she had appeared above us, on top of the warehouse.

"Well, I certainly can't tell you that. Not unless you can beat their two million dollar payment. But," Porter said, holding up a conditional finger, "I can tell you really care about this person. So how about he make a deal?" I narrowed my eyes at her. I got the feeling I wasn't going to like what came next.

"What deal?"

Porter smiled and disappeared from sight, instantly reappearing in front of me. "Why, it is quite simple. You do a little job for me, and I'll get you little Canary out of prison."

"Forgive me for being skeptical," I drawled sarcastically. "But I don't think you have the firepower to stage a prison break." The Porter's smile turned a little impish as she looked at me.

"My power finds a little loophole in the system. You see, if I have a piece of sample DNA, I can lock onto a person and teleport anywhere within a hundred feet of them, no matter where they are in the world." Porter spread out her hands widely with a grin. "All I need is a single hair from little Canary's head and I'll pop right in, grab her, then pop right back out." She snapped her fingers as if to show just how fast it would be.

"But this won't be for free," I stated plainly. Porter rolled her eyes.

"Of course not! Doing this upsets the balance of everything! Once Dragon notices a person is missing from the Birdcage, my life suddenly gets a lot harder. Luckily for you, there is no shortage clients that would pay massive amount to get someone out of the Birdcage, so your rate won't be as high." Porter grinned at me and I felt a shiver go down my spine. If we were going to get Canary, we would have to give this woman an all access pass into the Birdcage

"Now," Porter continued, "I'm sure you're wondering what I need you to do. Well don't worry, it's quite simple. Right now there is a man in Protectorate protective custody inside the New York Protectorate base by the name of Ned Stein. A client needs them dead before they can testify in court. Kill them, bring me a little bit of Canary, and we'll both call this said and done and never see each other again. Deal?"

I opened my mouth to speak, ask he details on the 'who' and 'why'. I didn't really care about breaking into the Protectorate, but I would like to know who it was I'm supposed to be killing. However, Reaper cut me off and took a step forward, holding out his hand.

"Deal," he said. Porter shook his hand with a grin and then suddenly, she was gone. This time, she didn't reappear.


End file.
